A Revry original, Unconventional is a really well-liked queer dramedy that feels totally different from the usual stuff. The heart of the story is about two pretty eccentric queer siblings and their partners trying to build a family that doesn't follow the traditional rules. It takes a super raw and unfiltered look at queer life, diving deep into things like mental health, addiction, and how complicated identity and relationships can get. It’s not afraid to get messy or show people at their most vulnerable, and it really pushes boundaries while showing a lot of different queer experiences. The first season has nine episodes, and each one is about a half-hour long. The story centers on Noah, a grad student who’s been struggling for years to wrap up his PhD. He’s been with his husband, Dan, for nine years, and they’ve recently gotten married and moved to Palm Springs. While they're trying to figure out how to start a family and have a baby, they decide to shake things up by in...
The plot follows Jordan and Dave, a couple who have been together for a few years. Right before Christmas, Jordan pops the question, expecting a big "Yes!" but instead, Dave basically says, "Can't we just stay the way we are?" They head off on a train to spend the holidays with Jordan's aunt, bringing along Jordan’s "sister" Lisa—who was raised by the aunt—and her boyfriend. Most of the movie is just them bickering and talking through Jordan and Dave’s relationship issues. In a weird twist, Dave meets a 20-year-old ski instructor who seems to be closeted and invites him over for a hot tub session, hoping for a threesome, but that doesn't actually lead anywhere. The movie just kind of stops as abruptly as the rest of the story.
The way they filmed this was really awkward because it uses a bunch of flashbacks and has one of the guys talking directly to the camera, almost like he’s on a reality dating show. It felt like Jordan was trying to narrate everything, and the constant jumps to how they met were just annoying. To make it worse, the version I watched looked terrible, and the two leads had zero chemistry. There’s an aunt character who is supposed to be racist and homophobic in a funny way, but none of her jokes actually landed. I think the script itself had some potential, but the acting and the directing were so bad that it was almost impossible to sit through. You could tell the lead actor was struggling because he kept laughing at the wrong times or looking right into the lens. It feels like a short film that someone tried to stretch out into a full movie, but it just didn't work. Even though it's technically a Christmas movie, it doesn't really have that holiday feel to help save the weak plot. Plus, the whole side story with the sister and her boyfriend just felt like extra filler to show off a messy family.
It’s a low-energy holiday flick that suffers from a major lack of chemistry and a messy filming style that makes it a bit of a chore to finish. (2/10)
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