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With a wonderful deadpan charm, Arabuli delivers a beautifully nuanced performance as a middle-aged woman who begins to remember her earlier, more open-minded youth. Lia's prickly approach to Achi is balanced by her emotive internal journey, which continually catches the viewer off-guard. Newcomer Kankava has a wonderfully loose-limbed honesty as a young man who can't quite understand why trans people have been banished from his homeland. His earthy charm is magnetic. Dumanli and the young Deger also have strongly engaging screen presence, demanding attention from society's fringe.

While the themes that ripple through this film are pungent and vital, the story remains riveting as Akin continually focusses on the characters' internal journeys. These don't always take the expected trajectories, surprising us with insight and reality, plus a final sequence that's darkly wrenching in what it has to say about families, and indeed entire societies, that allow bigoted public perception to destroy compassion for loved ones. It's a pointed message, but it's said with truthfulness and urgency.

themes, language, sexuality

6.Mar.24

In the central role, Tsiantoulas has a terrific understated presence, deploying superb comical timing and a burly physicality in a variety of witty scenarios. His gentle demeanour makes him hugely likeable, so we root for Demos to sort out the threads of his life, even if he spends his time worrying about everyone else around him. Labropoulos offers a remarkably sympathetic performance as the queeny Nikitas. He may be a bit spiky, but we can see his warm heart.

Amusing stories emerge within stories, as Dimos and Nikitas were working on a script two summers earlier as well, trying to adapt a stage play. Scenes hilariously riff on the rules of indie cinema, including a musical variation (to Bizet's Carmen, of course). In these various narratives, deeper thoughts and feelings emerge from gay men who have been treated as outsiders in society and in their families. This is a lovely exploration of a friendship and the roles we play with each other, often without knowing it.

themes, language, sexuality

9.Mar.24

Jinkings gives a strong, thoughtful performance as a woman simply trying to do what's best for her son. This allows her to ignore her own criminal activity, even though she clearly knows better. Opposite her, Alvarenga proves to be a force of nature, effortlessly stealing his scenes with sheer charisma. Tiquinho is bright and observant, with his own sense of purpose in life. It's a superbly honest performance that bristles with likeable attitude and inner strength.

Infused with the classic American ballads Tiquinho loves to lipsynch, the film has a warm, hugely involving tone that's engaging without ever going for the obvious story beats or simplistic conclusion. Essentially this film is a cry for education in the face of bigoted religious leaders who feed lies to their followers in order to further fleece them. Indeed, everyone in this story has their own slippery morality, all of which is far more transgressive than Tiquinho's sexuality.

themes, language, violence, sexuality

18.Mar.24