As summer turns to fall, queers everywhere prepare for two of their favorite occasions: Spooky season (a.k.a the lead-up to Halloween) and film festival season.
Both annual celebrations bring with them plenty of new entertainment, and the past month has been rife with film and television trailers only further stoking our excitement. We’ve already given you a rundown of the exciting gifts headed your way this “Gay Christmas,” but there’s plenty more to look forward to including an early Oscars favorite, an eye-opening documentary short, and an award-winning social satire that promises, um, an awful lot of bodily fluids.
To help you stay ahead of the curve, we’ve assembled this handy guide recapping all the best and gayest trailers to hit the internet in August. Check them out below and mark your calendars accordingly!
Albatross
Mix one part Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf with one part Get Out, shake it all up with some chilled gay sexual tension and you’ve got a wicked little cocktail in The Albatross. Filmmaker Myles Yaksich’s feature debut takes us back to 1959 (another Mid-Century set queer period piece!) where a young biracial couple’s dinner date turns sour after they realize their enigmatic, older hosts are harboring some decades-old secrets and some rather hostile ideals about race.
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Stay On Board: The Leo Baker Story
As the debate rages on over trans athletes in sports, this timely and moving documentary follows one person’s journey to be seen and respected as they really are. Nonbinary skateboarder Leo Baker had Olympic dreams, but decided to withdraw from Team USA ahead of the Tokyo Olympics to focus on their transition. Stay On Board presents a raw and intimate look at Leo’s life in the lead-up to the 2020 Olympics, showing how their courage embodies the true punk spirit of skate culture.
Stream it now on Netflix.
The Phantom Of The Sauna
Lovingly ribbing the melodrama of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom Of The Opera, this Spanish-language camp flick finds obsession and murder within the tiled walls of a gay bathhouse. As sung by chorus of drag queens (including Drag Race España‘s Supremme de Luxe and Pupi Poisson), this horror-comedy-musical tells the tale of a young man who’s new gig at the spa is complicated by a mysterious string of deaths—and his sexy new love interest who may be behind them!
Watch it now via Taiwan’s LGBTQ streamer, GagaOOLala.
So Vam
From trans teen filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay, this whip-smart Australian satire puts a stake through the heart of dusty old vampire movie tropes. The film follows high school student Kurt (drag artist Xai) who’s having a little trouble coming out to his friends and family… as a newly undead bloodsucker. Luckily, he’s got some cool vampy mentors to show him the ropes. It’s like The Lost Boys for Gen Z—if The Lost Boys had only picked up on its own queer subtext.
Stream it now on Shudder.
Unforgivable
Airing as part of VICE’s eye-opening The Short List documentary series after making waves on the film festival circuit, Unforgivable provides an unprecedented look inside a Salvadoran isolation cell where former gang hitman Geovany has turned to God for eternal salvation. The thing is, his Evangelical church may be able to forgive him for murder, but what will the say about the fact that he’s in love with another man?
Premieres September 1 on VICE.
The Inspection
Hollywood breakout Jeremy Pope is already garnering awards buzz for his leading role in this harrowing drama from A24. Loosely based on filmmaker Elegance Bratton’s own story, The Inspection follows a gay Marine Corps recruit (Pope) through the grueling routine of basic training, trying to hide his sexuality from his peers and searching for purpose after a troubled childhood. The charming Gabrielle Union also stars, making an uncharacteristically intense turn as the man’s disapproving mother.
The Inspection will make its worldwide premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, with a theatrical release date yet to be announced.
Triangle Of Sadness
While not explicitly a “queer film,” we couldn’t help but sit up and take notice of the first teaser for Triangle Of Sadness, which opens with a hilarious scene featuring shirtless male models (including Beach Rats‘ Harris Dickinson). This year’s Palme d’Or winner is the latest pitch-black social satire from director Ruben Östlund, which follows the wealthy elite on an über exclusive high seas cruise that feels doomed from the start. But proceed with caution: The trailer is gross.
Hits theaters everywhere on October 7.
The Schoolmaster Games
At the St. Sebastian Academy, homosexuality is the norm among the faculty and students. And while that may sound like a dreamy premise, this Swedish dark comedy plays more like a waking nightmare as lust and jealousy get the better of just about everyone on these school grounds. Filmmaker Ylva Forner packs some potent messaging about intergenerational gay relations in this homoerotic head trip, which features BDSM, hot and heavy wrestling, and at least one meta musical number.
U.S. release details are yet to be announced.
