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Leviticus (Australia)

By Golu
There aren't many horror or supernatural films out there that actually do the gay thing well, most of the older ones lean pretty campy or just come off as trash. This one though actually pulls off something smart, it takes a real emotional queer relationship and wraps it around a monster concept that genuinely works, and it does it with this creepy quality that sticks with you. If horror's your thing, you're going to eat this up. I'm not really into horror as a genre myself but I still ended up liking this one a lot, probably helped by the fact that it skips those jump scare moments that usually get under my skin with this kind of movie. So Naim's just moved into this small, religious town in Australia, and he starts spending time with a guy named Ryan, and pretty quick the two of them realize they're into each other, which leads to some kissing and more. Naim's feeling good about it too, thinking he's finally not going to be the outsider anymore, but th...
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Une Dernière Nuit De Toi (French) [One Last Night Of You]

By Golu
An atmospheric drama that tries to delve into joys of being alive, what could prompt folks to end their own life and is there a way that we can remind people on how precious the life is. Sounds good, isn't it? Sadly the execution of the subject leaves lot to be desired. For a sensitive subject like this, it is important that you connect with the characters and feel empathy, but for me, that did not work in this film.

Evan is on his way to a beauty spot in the middle of the night. Suicidal, he intends to kill himself there (since he lost his boyfriend a year ago and cannot get over it), but when his car breaks down on a bridge en route, he is stopped from jumping from it instead by the enigmatic young L̩o, who was just passing by. In place of talking him out of it, Leo agrees to drive him to his intended destination. Along the way, romantic tension ensues as the pair reckon with traumas of the past, conflicts of the present and the potential of the future Рtogether or apart. They meet a few notable people on the journey, primary being an aging prostitute who helps them reignite passion for life and a girl who Evan likes in a bar. While this is going on , there is clear attraction between the two men itself and they engage in love making a couple of times. Evan also finds out that Leo himself was on his way to end his life. Evan embarks on an expedition of self-discovery along the way.

This isn’t just a case of transporting someone from A to B as Léo makes numerous stops along the way, where they encounter a clutch of disparate characters and Evan is reminded of the joys of life that exist beyond his bubble of depressed self-reflection. Together they ruminate on the traumas of the past, both recent and historic, while reawakening Evan’s curiosity and excitement about the possibility of the unknown. Sadly, this road movie fails to connect on many levels. How come they have so many stops, why hitchhiking, very low attraction between the two men, why does Leo wanna end his life; it just leaves us wondering 'why' for so many things. This film could have been more thought provoking, but sadly it felt a bot amateurish to me in execution even though it was not. The two guys do a decent job at acting at what was given to them portraying their characters but somehow the angst doesn't get through to the audience. (3/10)
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