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EXCLUSIVE: This romance explores what happens when a gay man and his straight childhood crush reconnect

Two men embrace. We see one's eyes wide-open, as if he wasn't expecting the hug.
Image Credit: ‘Shoulder Dance’

“I had a straight best friend growing up, a close friendship that ended badly,” shares filmmaker Jay Arnold. “I’ve asked myself a thousand times what went wrong, what I could have done differently.”

Chances are, a lot of us can relate. Growing up and coming to terms with our queerness sometimes means our relationships to others take on new dimensions—for better or for worse.

For Arnold, life moved on, but there’s always been a part of him that’s wondered if things had to end that way. What if they had another chance to work it out?

“What if he showed up at the door many years later?,” he ponders. “Could we find the words? Would it even be possible to resolve the past and move forward?”

Now, all of those lingering questions have inspired Arnold’s sophomore feature as a writer-director, the original romantic dramedy Shoulder Dance.

The film stars Matt Dallas (who many will remember from teen sci-fi drama Kyle XY—now with more belly button) as Ira, who’s in a long-term relationship with his handsome partner Josh (It Chapter Two‘s Taylor Frey).

One day, he hears from his old friend Roger (The Flash‘s Rick Cosnett) out of the blue. It’s been 24 years since they’ve seen each other last, but Roger is back in town and Ira invites him over for a visit.

Josh, for his part, is suspicious: If these two were such good friends, why has he never heard of Roger before? Did something happen? Were there—or are there still—romantic feelings between them?

What follows is a modern queer spin on the classic bedroom farce, also featuring Gotham‘s Maggie Getha and Glee‘s Samuel Larsen. Over one wild weekend, relationships old and new will be tested as “the boundaries of friendship, love, and sex collide.”

Dallas shares with Queerty that he felt an immediate connection to the story, knowing it would resonate deeply with so many in our community, so he jumped at the chance to play Ira.

“To get to bring that to life through such a meaningful and fun journey was the icing on the cake,” the actor adds.

After premiering in Los Angeles last month at The Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival—where it won the Best LGBTQ Film award—Arnold plans to bring Shoulder Dance‘s “meaningful and fun journey” to even more festivals and screening events this year.

In anticipation of more dates to be announced, Queerty is delighted to exclusively premiere the first-look trailer for Shoulder Dance, which you can watch below:

Head here to the official Shoulder Dance website for all of the latest updates on festival screenings and more.

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