Queerguru’s Jose Mayorga reviews YOU CAN’T STAY HERE the latest drama by TODD VEROW

 

LOVE IS SUCH AN EASY THING. EASY TO GIVE, HARD TO TAKE…

A fiction inspired by actual events, the film begins with Rick (Guillermo Díaz) reading to his son the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice from the First book of Mythology and ends with Blood (that leaves a stain)  and out of focus. The forest of the tale may translate into a cruising area in Central Park, beware, there may be snakes that bite in the bushes, while shy and quiet Rick photographs what catches his eye.

New York City, 1993.  Storytelling alludes to  The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) since  Rick sees through the lens and captures a malign presence that reveals itself in the darkroom after he develops film and makes gelatin silver prints.  Evil incarnates in a tall and attractive man dressed in black wearing a plastic coat, scalpel in hand, a men eater that chases in the park and to whom Rick feels obsessively attracted, even to dream of him while sleeping at home,  next door to his homophobic, aggressive mother that suffers with Alzheimer’s.

Blood rituals, sexual fantasies, conversations with strangers, public restrooms, porn cinemas, bars to kill time,  special poppers, grief, men that give advice and provide tenderness, and even an annoying employer, intermingle in this nightmarish low-budget independent movie that has interesting camera angles that may reveal more and add to the plot but they don´t.

Directed by Todd Verow

 

Review by José Mayorga , Guatemala, Central America lawyer and notary public, visual artist, and editor of El Azar Cultural, lives and works in Guatemala City. Cinema lover, curious about the possibilities life brings and eager to live the experience.


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