VOD Review - The Dare Project (Short Film)

15 years ago, Adam Salky directed a short film called Dare (2005). Salky made the film with writer, David Brind who was his classmate at Columbia University. They shot the 16-minute piece in Philadelphia and focused on two teenage boys in a coming-of-age, slice-of-life tale. It's difficult to measure the success of short films, given that there is a very limited marketplace for them, but Salky's short film became one of the most successful, LGBTQ short films of the 21st century and possibly ever. Again, given the limited marketplace for short films, how does one measure success?

First off, the short played at over 50 film festivals globally. Speaking of that marketplace, there have been two companies that specifically have been selling gay short films. Strand Releasing is an American distributor that has compiled gay short films as part of a series called Boys Life. Salky and Brind's film was chosen for Strand Releasing's Boys Life 5. Peccadillo Pictures is a British distributor that also has compiled gay short films as part of a series called Boys on Film. Salky and Brind's film was chosen for Peccadillo Pictures' Boys on Film 3. For those two businesses and really any two businesses to show interest in a short film is pretty incredible.

The interest in Salky and Brind's film was also such that they were able to get enough support to turn the short into a feature film. That feature premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. It even got a limited theatrical release. That feature basically rebooted the whole idea with two different actors and followed them into a strange situation as they were in high school. It added a third character as one of the protagonists, a young woman, which changed the dynamic and made it less about the two boys and their relationship, which was the core of the short film. The young woman became the center and the two boys were just supporting characters. It just didn't feel like what Salky and Brind originally did. It didn't feel as powerful or as queer as the short film.

10 years later, Salky and Brind corrected that divergence. They created a sequel to their original 2005 short. They brought back the two actors from 2005, playing the same characters who encounter each other 15 years after the events in the 2005 short. The narrative of the 2009 feature is ignored and doesn't seem to exist in this return. This short even incorporates the footage of that 2005 short as it was and replays it here as well. 15 years later, Salky and Brind don't just replicate, but they invoke all of the same feelings and emotions, the same power and the same queerness as before. Instead of two boys looking forward to things they might want, they are two grown men looking back, and it's beautiful and touching how Salky and Brind handle it.

Broadway performer, Adam Fleming stars as Ben, a man who is probably in his mid to late thirties. We first see him as a teenage student in the Philadelphia-area, running the lights for a high school production of A Streetcar Named Desire. It is clear that Ben has a crush on the boy who is on stage. He visits the boy's house late at night to help the boy with learning his dialogue. Ben gets into the pool with the boy where they drink alcohol and Ben smokes his first marijuana joint. They even discuss their sexual experiences or lack thereof.

After an intimate moment, which will become a moment of debate, we then see older Ben in Los Angeles. He's at his wealthy employer's pool party where he bumps into the boy with whom he was intimate as a teenager but apparently hasn't seen in 15 years. It's like the third sequence in Moonlight (2016) but between two white guys.

Michael Cassidy (Men at Work and The O.C.) co-stars as Johnny, the aforementioned boy who was intimate as a teenager with Ben. He was the young man on stage, trying to remember his lines for A Streetcar Named Desire. Johnny is obviously tall, handsome and charming. He's smart and he's funny. It's not a question as to why Ben would be attracted to him. He does come across though with a reputation of being a kind of womanizer and a bit of a bad boy.

Like what he does on stage, that reputation might just be an act. As much as the 2005 short was about shedding that act or facade. Johnny as an adult has to reckon with that and how that has affected his life, determining what he really wants. However, he stands mostly as a mirror for Ben to show Ben or make Ben reflect and consider what he really wants.

Adam Hagenbuch (Fuller House and Undateable) also co-stars as Justin, a Soul Cycle instructor and an actor who knows Ben's employer. He's just a gorgeous and sexy reminder of what's out there that Ben is perhaps missing because he's holding onto youthful ideas and desires. It's great how his brief performance in nothing but his swimming briefs makes such an impact, and it's not simply because of how good-looking he is. Again, he's a bit of a mirror for Ben.

This short film also has an end credits song that is very well done. It's "Hardliners" by Holcombe Walller, utilizing his signature rattle sound. All that put together, I actually prefer this short to that third sequence to Moonlight.

Not Rated but contains intense sexual situations and language.
Running Time: 34 mins.

Available on Vimeo.