TLA Releasing have compiled this third volume in their Testosterone Series, and as good as this selection is, we’re still unsure, exactly why the anthology deserves such a title.
1992 : this award winning nostalgic film from France is the tale of 17 year old Martin (Louis Duneton) who is left to his own devices after school every night when his single parent father goes to work. Martin is obsessed with filming everything with his camcorder, and also losing his virginity.
After getting beaten up at school one day, he is taken home by Dominique (Matthieu Dessertine) a young teaching assistant who Martin decides should be his first gay experience. His father discovers his son’s closeted sexuality and without saying out loud lets Martin he is OK with everything and , and him,.
Just Me : stars Brit heartthrob soap actor Philip Oliver as Scott a closeted gay man who is about to marry a woman when he is confronted by the appearance of Connor (Carl Loughlin) his ex-boyfriend on his doorstep. Scott’s fiance suggests that Connor join her groom on his Stag Night but he politely declines saying its S&M night at his local Club. And that is where a drunken Scott ends up as he really wants to be ravished by Connor once more , but does he really have the balls for it?
Silverlake Afternoon: this is another tale about a closeted gay man who wants to lose his virginity. Well at least he thinks he does. Michael is 33 years old and finally found the nerve to hook up with someone online. His date Casey (Dakota Greene) couldn’t be cuter and is charmed by Michael’s awkwardness and his tendency to overthink every little thing.
Michael is played with great sincerity by Michael Osbourne who wrote and co-directed this 11 min short, and he managed to make his geeky character extremely likable anf who we end up willing him to succeed in his quest.
Telling Dad. is the second Brit film in this anthology and also the second to star actor Carl Loughlin who also wrote. Based nn his own life it is the story of a closeted Northern gay lad who is giving an ultimatum by his boyfriend of one year to finally come out to his family. He chooses to do this by writing a letter to each off his family members and then follows up with a visit to them. He gets a variety of reactions from them, but they always end the conversation the same way ‘ have you told your Dad yet?’ in such a manner you can only expect the worst..
The story has an unexpected happy ending , although that part was a figment of Loughlin’s imagination, as in real life, his father was not the jolly accepting man in his film
Reid Waterer‘s The Jealous Sea is definitely the weakest of this collection of short gay films. Without a word spoken a handsome couple of men pick each other up in the park and are soon very much an item. Hunky Kevin Sebastian Lysen is a successful photographer who spends his days taking nude photos of hot male models . When Carlos (Kevin Ramirez) sees one particular set of pics,, he phones Kevin up accuse him of having slept with the model. As a rebuttal, Kevin says he can’t stand jealousy so the relationship is over. Just like that
Two months later Carlos tracks the model and he sleeps with him only to discover Kevin never had, so he crawls back to him and begs forgiveness and they plan to live together happily ever after. However this cliched tale is very predictable so you know that is never going to happen
