This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat. The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
La Miranda is a drag queen who goes through the torture of police once in while in the Stonewall bar. She meets Matty Dean, who has just arrived in NYC. He is somewhat naive and very young. They embark upon a friendship which soon turns into love. Matty Dean comes with enthusiasm to do something for gay rights and to make a difference but he feels uneasy about the way things are. He befriends another man who enlightens him about rallies and a peaceful march to Philadelphia. When Matty Dean has some issues with La Miranda because he wants to focus on making a change, he moves in with this man and start an affair but even here, he is not fully satisfied. He still sees a lot of problems in the place. There is another love story on the side between Stonewall owner and the head of drag queens. Of course, the owner never wants to be seen in public with drag queen and their love affair is a big secret. When the owner can't deal with this double life, he commits suicide. The film ends with the famous riot when the police tries to arrest all drag queens out of the club. The unbelievable but true twist on events is the cops including the NYPD's crack tactical police unit equipped for riots retreating into a newly emptied Stonewall Inn for their own safety is truly a sight to behold.
Stonewall is a brutal film that delivers a very strong message in a very straight forward, no crap, right to the point kind of way. The characters in the film are all adorable in their own way and you can really feel what they are feeling. You can feel the frustration that Matty Dean feels, specially when he can't even enjoy the time with his so called boyfriend at the beach on fire island. All La Miranda wants is love in life and doesn't want to deal with any shit from cops. The actor playing La Miranda is excellent. Matty Dean is so charming, effervescent and everything that you would want in your man including the dashing good looks. I wish a little more focus was done on the other love story. Why did the bar owner suddenly have change of heart and decides to publicly acknowledge his love story?
The film gives a sense of history albeit through fictional story. A great lesson of what people in history did for us to make our lives better in this present. (6/10)
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