The scene is a quiet gay pub in a London side street at lunchtime . There are just two men at the bar and they make eye contact with each other so when one of them we later discover is called James (Peter McPherson) , heads for the mens room, the other man , Carl (James Buttling) is quick to follow. As they stand side by side at the urinal neither say a word, but just before he is about to leave, James presses himself against a very nervous Carl.
Outside the Pub without a word James opens the passenger door of his Convertible and indicates for Carl to get in. Once at James’s apartment the men finally speak and they acknowledge that they may have seen each other before. Carl is a garage mechanic who has serviced James’s car. Carl then nervously expresses he is a straight married man but when James accuses him of stealing his sports jockstrap from his car , suddenly we have the impression that this hook-up is not a random act of spontaneity after all
This very engaging short story could not possibly have a happy ending but kudos to the two lead actors for their convincing and compelling performances. (You may have seen even more of McPherson before if you are an habituee of West End Bares).
Your Heart is Homeless was written and directed by queer filmmaker Darren Brade who has stated that whilst the story is fictional, he wanted to tell the story of the many people who lead a double, struggling to come to terms with their sexuality.
The full film can be viewed on Queerbee and Vimeo
