Every time we see queer Brit actor Russell Tovey on a screen …….large or small…… reinforces Queerguru’s belief that he is one of the very best actors of his generation.  Even in his latest role in the short film I AM THE  PRIZE by filmmaker Sai Karan Talwarn,  he gives a powerful performance that makes for such compulsive viewing.

Tovey plays Anthony Selvon, a controversial self-help figure whose identity begins to fracture during a lecture tour.  He speaks in motivational terms, borrows the language of self-improvement, and packages control as discipline, and whilst his lecture may be full of self-help, it lacks compassion.  So far, Selvon is a man who has made a business out of certainty, but now finds himself placed in a situation he can’t dominate.  It may seem odd to say, but Tovey’s strength here is  his sheer vulnerability