Well, this is awkward.
According to its official description, The Breeding is a “post-Obama” “LGBTQ erotic thriller” that tells the story of a young artist who becomes obsessed with sexual “race play”. It just won a 2018 Best Feature Award at the Harlem Film Festival.
What the film’s official description conveniently forgets to mention, however, is that it stars Marcus Bellamy, the Broadway dancer who is perhaps best known for murdering his boyfriend in 2016.
Shortly after filming of The Breeding wrapped in 2016, Bellamy was arrested after beating and strangling his boyfriend, 27-year-old Bernardo Almonte. He confessed to the murder in a super cryptic Facebook post that is still up on the site.
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Putting that disturbing fact aside for a moment, Bellamy plays Thomas, a young black artist living in New York. One night, he meets a white dude named Lee at a gallery opening and the two engage in a racially-charged love affair. What starts as just some average, everyday, consensual erotic race play soon turns into something dark and dangerous.
“The Breeding pushes the envelope in how we think of sex and culture in the LGBTQ community,” executive producer Dane Joseph says, “and it’s amazing to have an awesome partner in Breaking Glass Pictures who supports our company’s mission to explore controversial and risqué stories.”
Going back to the real-life drama surrounding Bellamy, after admitting online to killing Almonte, he surrendered himself to police and was charged with second-degree murder.
One might think that would be a good enough reason to just shelve the project indefinitely, but producers are trying a different approach. Rather than mentioning the film’s murderous star, they’re focusing all their efforts on promoting the its writer, Dane Harrington, and director, Daniel Armando.
“Director Armando and writer-producer Joseph have crafted a compelling thriller about obsession and race relations that feels both fresh and exciting,” the film’s press release reads.
The Breeding opens in select theaters next month.
Bob LaBlah
I wish some where on the internet there was a piece about whether or not he went to prison for killing that poor kid.
dwes09
The coverage of the film in OUT magazine refers to him as “convicted murderer Marcus Bellamy”. Generally those convicted go to prison. In his case I would assume it is a facility for the criminally insane. I could find no articles dealing with either a trial or sentence, but as he confessed and all the details were all over the press before any trial, they probably didn’t devote any column inches to it.
“If it bleeds it leads”, but the press had apparently already spread the blood around enough.
remyfacade
@dwes09 u can be convicted without going to jail. It just means you were charged and it’s now on your record.
mr guy
“What starts as just some average, everyday, consensual erotic race play”
I’d like to believe this is irony…I’d like to…but no…almost certainly it is not. Above all else we mustn’t “kinkshame” and hurt or invalidate kinksters feefees (unless that’s their THING) no mattter what level of ideologically dodgy, outright repellent or super gross twisted it descends.
Kangol
WTF is “post-Obama”? Does that mean that now that the nation’s first Black president is no longer in office, writers, including a Black screenwriter like Dane Joseph, and directors can go back to depicting racially degrading images on screen? I mean, what people do in the privacy of their homes is their business, and I have no argument against safe, sane and consensual BDSM. But at a time when racism, white supremacy and ethnocentrism are out in the open in the public discourse in the US (and in countries like Austria, etc.), is this really a good film to be putting out there? On top of this, one of its main actors is accused (was he convicted?) of a brutal murder. Doesn’t that matter?
StraightnNarrow
Another revolting movie that paints gays as deranged and sex crazed men acting upon dark sinister fantasy who have little impulse control.
amanofcolours
I cannot wait. Despite all those who love to judge from their pearly stainless thrones, there ARE some of us who are proud Black men who do like to engage in consensual raceplay behind closed doors. Raceplay, although not mainstream, is a force to be reckoned with as more folks “come out”. It’s not just a white on black thing – I’ve engaged in latino on black as well as black on black raceplay. It certainly is not for everyone, but I’ll be damned if I am going to go back in the “raceplay closet” just because society and the gay community may deem it inappropriate. What goes on behind MY bedroom doors is none of YOUR business. As if the LGBTQ community isn’t splintered enough, but thank goodness there is a filmmaker who addresses raceplay exists, and at last a film for people like me. People seem to forgot it won the 2018 Best Feature Award at the Harlem Film Festival. If the film turns you off, don’t see it.
Kangol
Small point: Latinxs can be of any race; Latina/o/x is not a racial but an ethnic category.
StraightnNarrow
You, sir, are a little unhinged, aren’t we? It’s time, high time, for you to book an appointment with your therapist before you descend into depression and suicidal thoughts.
mark21764
Handcuffs sometimes. Ball gags, shit, piss, hitting no… I don’t want someone’s hand up my ass. Inter-racial is great. Safe word always. I think this film (because of the murder) should be permanently canned. I don’t get the reference to “post-Obama.”
Thad
Everything is bot for everyone: Thiz film is not for me.
Thad
Forgive my misspellings.
Birdbrain1963
Sick
www.google.com
Great trailer