The great, gay-themed movie Teenage Kicks was released on DVD/VoD in the UK on October 23rd. That film is based on the award-winning 2009 short, Drowning, which played at film festivals around the world and also became one of the centrepieces of the Boys Of Film: Pacific Rim DVD.
To celebrate the Teenage Kicks UK release, writer/director Craig Boreham and producer Annmaree Bell have released Drowning online for us all to watch.
So what’s it all about? Well, here’s what we had to say when we reviewed it as part of the Pacific Rim release: ‘Mik and his friend Dan head over to visit Dan’s girlfriend. Mik seems less than impressed with this rich girl ‘princess’ and makes it clear he doesn’t think she’s right for Dan. However as the evening progresses and Mik’s anti-social behaviour gets more extreme and potentially dangerous, his family troubles are revealed as well as his feelings for Dan. It’s rare in gay films that the protagonist is presented as being a complete dick, but there’s no doubt that Mik is not exactly a nice guy. The short does a good job of drawing you in though and making Mik understandable. It’s a surprisingly complex little film and well worth watching.’
It’s also interesting for those who’ve seen Teenage Kicks to compare this Drowning with how it was expanded out into a feature-length movie. For example, while Miles Szanto plays Mik in both Drowning and Teenage Kicks, Dan in the short film is Xavier Samuel, who went on to appear in the Twilight movies, Fury and Adore.
Szanto recently won Best Actor at the prestigious Iris Prize in Wales for his performance in Teenage Kicks. The movie’s cast also includes Daniel Webber (11.22.63, The Punisher), Charlotte Best (Home and Away, Puberty Blues) and Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires). You can read our review of the film here.
Take a look at Drowning below. If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here.
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