• ALL
  • NEWS
    • GAY MOVIE/ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
    • GAY FILM TRAILERS
    • GENERAL MOVIE NEWS & TRAILERS
  • GAY SHORTS & SERIES
  • REVIEWS
    • GAY FILM REVIEWS
    • CINEMA REVIEWS
    • DVD & BLU-RAY REVIEWS
  • BGPS BLOG
  • COMPS
  • ABOUT
    • Contact Us
    • Join The Team
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Gays On Film – A Short History

Big Gay Picture Show

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

Eat With Me (US Cinema Review)

May 10, 2015 By Tim Isaac 2 Comments

Starring: Sharon Omi, Teddy Chen Culver, Nicole Sullivan, George Takei
Director: David Au
Running Time: 95 mins
Certificate: NR
Release Date: May 5th 2015 (US)

Elliot (Teddy Chen Culver) is a gay man running a Chinese restaurant (which is in major financial trouble). He’s trying to figure out his love life, which certainly isn’t devoid of men but none of them are around for long. His life is shaken up when his mother, Emma (Sharon Omi), turns up on his doorstep and asks to stay for a while.

It appears she’s left Elliot’s rather thoughtless and selfish father, although she doesn’t want to talk about it. There’s also the added complication that while Emma knows her son is gay, she’s not comfortable with it and isn’t sure how to reconcile it in her own mind. However with the help of Elliot’s next door neighbour (Nicole Sullivan), Emma begins to find a new way to look at her life and her possibilities. For Elliot meanwhile, having his mother stay forces him to re-evaluate his tendency to push possible relationships away.

Eat With Me is a sweet, witty and rather charming movie. While there are plenty of coming out films, there are fewer ‘after coming out’ movies. Coming out movies tend to treat the moment someone says ‘I’m gay’ as the end of the story, however most LGBT people know that it’s not that simple, not just because you have to keep saying it to new people, but also because there are various levels of coming out and of acceptance.

Here Emma knows her son is gay and while she’s not happy about it, she has accepted it and isn’t trying to change him. The film sees them negotiating the next steps, such as Emma having her preconceptions about gay people challenged. It’s nice that when they are challenged, rather than simply saying every preconception Emma has about gay people is prejudiced and incorrect, it’s her view of things such as promiscuity that may be wrong.

What Emma and Elliot also have to face is that there can be a difference between knowing that someone is gay in theory and dealing with that in practice. It’s something many gay people will recognise, especially if you’ve ever had friends or acquaintances who are totally ‘cool’ with your sexuality when it’s purely theoretical, but then don’t know what to do with themselves if they see you actually doing something gay, and make the whole situation feel horribly awkward. And it’s not a one-way street, as not only does Emma need to face the fact that her son dates guys in reality and not just in theory, but Elliot almost needs to force himself to show his mother he really does like men, by setting up an accidentally-on-purpose scenario that presses the issue.

It’s also great to see a film where the main characters aren’t white, but while their Asian-American cultural heritage informs the characters, the plot isn’t so hung up on their race that it becomes absolutely intrinsic to everything they do. In stereotyped, mainstream Hollywood land, there would be a lot of talk of dishonouring ancestors and homosexuality not being part of their culture (while Elliot did martial arts and maths homework, of course), but the movie isn’t interested in those sorts of clichés. Indeed it comes up with a neat metaphor for the synthesis of different cultures and the fact we share more than we don’t, with the idea of Chinese dumplings stuffed with various sorts of fast food.

Sharon Omi is wonderful as Emma, a middle-aged woman who knows she’s living a small life and wants far more from her remaining years. Omi is one of those actresses many will recognise from endless supporting roles in Hollywood movies and guest spots on TV shows, but here she shows she more than has the ability to hold a film on her own. To be honest the pickings are slim when it comes to movies centred around middle-aged Asian-American women, but Omi shows that’s rather short-sighted on the film world’s part.

There’s also a brief cameo from George Takei, playing himself, who reminds us that before he was the king of social media and a master at showing society that LGBT people are part of ‘us’ and not just a ‘them’, he was an actor – and a pretty good one at that.

Overall Verdict: Eat With Me is a movie that’s well worth seeking out, as it’s extremely heartfelt, sweet and entertaining, dealing with great empathy with a variety of issues, from facing middle-age and wanting more from life, to dealing with sexuality not just for the family of a gay person but also for the person themselves.

Reviewer: Tim Isaac

Wanna share?:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Flipboard (Opens in new window) Flipboard
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Overall Rating 7outof10

Related

Filed Under: GAY FILM REVIEWS, Top Posts

Comments

  1. Fruity Movies says

    May 11, 2015 at 4:53 am

    I agree with you that it’s nice to see a film that looks at the after-coming-out stage of a relationship. I thought this film did a wonderful job showing not only how the mother deals with her son being gay, but also how that interplays with other issues that are going on in her life. It’s like she’s trying to come out of a shell that has had her in a marriage that doesn’t suit her, where she isn’t open to new experiences, and where she doesn’t relate to her son. Coming out of that shell is like a coming-out journey for her, and she learns a lot along the way.

    Reply
  2. webyeller says

    June 22, 2019 at 5:16 am

    Thanks! Nice,and very apt review for a charming movie that goes against preconceptions.

    Reply

Leave a Reply (if comment does not appear immediately, it may have been held for moderation)Cancel reply

Search this site:

We're Needy, Be Our Friend

RSSTwitterFacebookStumbleUponMySpace

E-maily Stuff

Get the latest in our daily e-mail

Most Recent Posts

Young Hunter Trailer – First teen gay love takes a dark turn into blackmail

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Trailer – The hit gay, drag West End musical is coming to the screen

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 3 (Short Film Reviews)

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 2 (Short Film Reviews)

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 1 (Short Film Reviews)

The Scottish Queer International Film Festival 2020 Has Opened, & It’s Online Across The UK

The Iris Prize LGBT Short Film Festival Returns Next Week, & It’s Online & Free!

An Apology From Big Gay Picture Show

Win The Miseducation of Cameron Post DVD & Book!

Seventeen Trailer – The vagaries of teen romance erupt in the lesbian-themed film

My Best Friend Trailer – Gay romance flickers between two teen boys

New Sauvage Trailer – The gay prostitute movie that divided Cannes is coming soon

We're Needy, Be Our Friend

RSSTwitterFacebook

E-maily Stuff

Get all the latest from BGPS in our daily e-mail

Blogroll

  • Blinkbox – Gay & Lesbian
  • DoorQ
  • Movie Muser
  • Peccadillo Pictures
  • Peccapics Blog
  • TLA Gay (UK)
  • TLA Releasing (UK)
  • TQS Magazine

Copyright © 2025 Muser Media · Powered by WordPress & Genesis Framework · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're OK with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Read More Accept Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT