Who would have ever expected a film set in the ultra macho, extremely homophobic world of lucha libre wrestling to serve as a celebration of women and effeminate gay men? Director Roger Ross Williams along with co-writer David Teague have crafted such an experience with their biopic, Cassandro, the true story of Saúl Armendáriz, an... Continue Reading →
TIFF 2023: LGBTQ+ highlights at 48th Toronto International Film Festival
The 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) opens on Thursday, September 7th with the international premiere of Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki's animated epic The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka) and comes to a close on Sunday, September 17th with the world premiere of Thom Zimny's Sylvester Stallone documentary Sly, exploring the close... Continue Reading →
Outfest LA 2023 Film Review: Egghead & Twinkie ★★★1/2
Starting out at the age of 19 to make her feature writing-directing debut, Sarah Kambe Holland, now in her mid-twenties, has made a queer themed film by and for a Gen Z audience, and the result, Egghead & Twinkie is, to use the language of her peers, “totes adorbs”. With its generous use of animation,... Continue Reading →
NewFest Pride Summer Film Series returns to New York with sizzling five-day lineup
The third annual NewFest Pride Summer Film Series, running June 1st - 5th, 2023 in New York, will kick off Pride month in the city in style, featuring a mix of exclusive in-person premieres and panels, virtual screenings, and social events. Fairyland. Courtesy of NewFest. Among the nine feature films being shown, is the opening... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: Jose Colon & Cooper Koch on queer body-horror Swallowed “it’s not flashy nudity it’s part of the story”
With Sundance award-winning filmmaker Carter Smith's sexy and unsettling queer horror Swallowed now available on demand and digital in the US, two of its stars, Cooper Koch and Jose Colon, speak exclusively with The Queer Review's editor James Kleinmann about how they got involved, shooting in a cabin in the woods in rural Maine, working... Continue Reading →
Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 Review: Where Butterflies Don’t Fly (Kam motýli nelétají) ★★★
When a bullied gay teen and his discreetly gay teacher are stranded in a complex cave system, they both need to drop their pretenses and learn to survive in order to escape in writer-director Roman Němec's claustrophobic feature debut, Where Butterflies Don’t Fly. Also there are sandwiches, but we’ll get to that later. Daniel (Daniel... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: The Inspection stars Jeremy Pope & Gabrielle Union on collaborating with Elegance Bratton on his deeply personal film
Pier Kids filmmaker Elegance Bratton makes his emotionally potent narrative feature debut with The Inspection, opening in US theaters from A24 on Friday, November 18th, following its world premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival. Dedicated to his late mother, the impactful drama is inspired by events in Bratton’s own life, with Jeremy Pope starring... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: My Policeman director Michael Grandage “I was born into that world where homosexuality was still illegal in England”
Tony and Olivier award-winning veteran theatre director and producer Michael Grandage's poignant sophomore feature film, My Policeman, which received its world premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival, opens in US theaters on October 21st before its global launch on Prime Video on Friday November 4th. Based on the novel by Bethan Roberts, with... Continue Reading →
“It’s been a long time coming” – The Queer Review meets the cast of historic queer rom-com Bros – Jim Rash, Eve Lindley, Ts Madison, Miss Lawrence & Dot-Marie Jones
Following its world premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and glitzy premieres in New York and Los Angeles, today finally sees the theatrical release of Universal's big gay rom-com Bros, co-written by and starring Billy Eichner as part of an all-LGBTQ+ principal cast. In the film, which is as hilarious and romantic... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: Max Pelayo & Reese Gonzales on starring in Aristotle & Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe
One of the LGBTQ+ highlights at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), was writer-director Aitch Alberto's adaptation of Benjamin Alire Sáenz bestselling YA novel, Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe. Produced by Alberto, alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, Eugenio Debrez, and Kyra Sedgwick, the powerful coming-of-age tale explores the bond that builds between... Continue Reading →