Movie Review - Outfest 2020 Short Films

Along with the features, Outfest 2020 had a collection of short films. Each collection was a bundle of shorts connected by some common theme or aspect. Those themes or aspects included films about the LatinX experience or the transgender experience or the lesbian experience. There were at least eight collections by my count. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see all them. Of the ones I did see, there were some really compelling stories, as well as some frustrating ones.

Query by Sophie Kargman is arguably the most star-studded of all the short films in the festival this year. Two of the actors in it are veritable celebrities who have been in high-profile films. One of those celebrities is Armie Hammer who was in The Social Network (2010) and Call Me By Your Name (2017), one of the most well regarded, gay films of the past five years. Hammer has just a cameo in this short. The other celebrity who is more integral is Justice Smith who plays Jay, a young man who spends the whole day lounging around with his best friend and roommate, Alex, played by Graham Patrick Martin (Major Crimes and Two and a Half Men). Despite Martin having been in two hit TV shows, his celebrity is somewhat eclipsed by Justice Smith who was in the blockbusters Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018).

This year, Smith made headlines when he came out as gay. This film is then his first to be released since that revelation and arguably his first at playing a gay character here or at least a queer one. The setup is that these two roommates, Jay and Alex spend all day together talking about sexuality until they essentially dare each other to kiss. I would say that the film plays into this annoying fantasy that all one needs to do to turn a straight guy is kiss him, as if queerness or same-sex attraction is reduced to that one act.

However, the film is worth it to see a shirtless Justice Smith who is also on my list of one of the sexiest stars of the year. Of the rest of the short films at Outfest 2020 that I saw, I made a ranking of my top 15. I also have a list of honorable mentions and short films that I missed that I hope to see in the future. I'll start with my Top 15 Outfest 2020 Shorts:

15. CATFISH KILLER by Seth Harrington & Gil Hizon. A campy slasher that's funny and sexy. Starring Chris Salvatore (Eating Out: All You Can Eat and Eastsiders) and Sachin Bhatt who was in two shorts at this festival.

14. GAY PRE-PARTY BEFORE THE PARTY by Matthew Barkley. A 2-minute, stop-motion animated film that reminded me A Town Called Panic (2009) in its manic and psychedelic energy.

13. SEXPERT ADVICE by Tobit Raphael Capati. Tobit Raphael directs, writes and stars as a young Asian man who hires a slightly older man, played by Eddie Cahill (CSI: NY and Under the Dome) to help him navigate and say the right things on a gay dating app in order to get a hot guy to have sex with him.

12. BUCK by Elegance Bratton & Jovan James. A young black man attends an exclusive gay sex party on a boat until he realizes he doesn't want to be a sexual object for a wealthy white man and a more, mature black man has to come to his rescue.

11. FEMININA by Ilana Garcia-Mittleman. A young Latino boxer falls for a fellow boxer who is transgender. Starring David De La Barcena and Nava Mau as Nina.

10. BLOCKED by Kevin Yee. The Asian comedian also stars in this short about having writer's block.

9. FLEX by Charles Gould & Matt Porter. Gould who is a comedian writes and stars as a guy who breaks up with his girlfriend only to start dating guys. He also has a latent interest from childhood of Bowflex commercials. He ends up having a sweet and romantic night with a guy from Grindr, played by Charles Rogers.

8. SEE YOU SOON by Tyler Robinowitz. This was very reminiscent of Andrew Haigh's Weekend (2011). It wasn't derivative, but passionate and very well acted from actors James Cusati-Moyer (Prodigal Son) and Jonny Beauchamp (Katy Keene).

7. OF HEARTS AND CASTLES by Ruben Navarro. A black man dealing with a break-up meets a Latino man with a heart tattoo on his chest.

6. S.A.M. by Lloyd Eyre-Morgan & Neil Ely. Two, British teenagers, both named Sam, meet on a swing set in a playground every week to swap stories about their lives. One of them has a disability.

5. THE D*CK APPOINTMENT by Mike Roma. The film centers on a young man on a gay dating app where his texts come to life, as avatars of the young men online appear before his eyes.

4. CANDIS FOR PRESIDENT by Michelle Peerali. In a world where anything is possible, as evidenced by our current president, transgender actress, Candis, played by Candis Cayne, sets out to become the President of the United States with the help and sometimes detriment, of her sarcastic television producer sidekick, Andrea, played by Andrea Metz.

3. MUY GAY TOO MEXICANO by Lorena Lourenço. A gay Mexican has a guy come over for a home date, but his two roommates or opposing facets of his identity keep pushing-and-pulling him in various directions.

2. KIND OF by Noah Schamus. Two trans-men, one played by Garcia (Party of Five and Tales of the City) and the other played by Avi Roque, are in an open relationship, but they get into an argument about the implications of who they hook up with and what it means for themselves.

1. THE CYPER by Letia Soloman. Nigel Cox stars as Khalil, a young rapper trying to lift his profile in the underground Philadelphia scene. He enters a rap battle, but he has to face intolerance from members of his community when news about his secret boyfriend, played by Juan Gil, begins to spread.

Honorable mention:

1. KIKO'S SAINTS (LES SAINTS DE KIKO) by Manuel Marmier. A Japanese woman in France begins to make a manga about a gay couple she spies having sex on a nude beach.

Shorts I hope to see in the future:

2. OUR PLACE TOGETHER by Clay Pruitt. Features the actor Elliot Knight.

1. YOURS MINE OURS by Ben Baur. It's Baur's first time behind the camera. He's been acting for a while and features the aforementioned Sachin Bhatt.