Welcome to the Weekend Binge. Every Friday, we’ll suggest a binge-able title designed to keep you from getting too stir crazy. Check back throughout the weekend for even more gloriously queer entertainment.
The Melancholic Mystery: The Silent Valley
One of our editors here at Queerty stumbled on this massively overlooked gem from 2016. The Silent Valley hails from Romania (though it is based on a show from Norway) and takes the dangers of living in the closet to a new extreme.
Filip & Horia are two regular teenagers who meet up in a local forest to explore their sexuality together. During their intense encounter, the pair witness a brutal double murder. Though the young couple manages to escape, paranoia ensues as the two must decide between going to the police and staying silent. Coming forward, of course, means coming out and risking public ridicule. Staying silent means staying protected…unless a killer finds them first.
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Graphic, brutal and taut with suspense, The Silent Valley plays on themes of voyeurism, guilt and buried tension. Much like Blue Velvet–though nowhere near as graphic–the series plays on our own impulses: we love to watch Filip & Horia. Much like the pair, we get turned on with our fly on the wall perspective…and we’re just as powerless to intervene.
Streams on HBO Max.
Liquid Silver
Maybe they make love atop the cooling body?
…no? Too macabre? I’ve seen too many “Child’s Play” flicks? Yeah, people keep saying that.
jayceecook
There was an American adaptation of the Norwegian television series a few years ago. It only lasted one season but it was well liked. At some point I think most countries will have an adaptation of the original.
jjose712
Eyewitness.
The idea is very good
Didier988
Being a gay man from Romania myself, I appreciated the series, but I must say that I was rather disappointed by the lack of intimacy between the main characters.