The 44th annual Reeling Film Festival continued through September 27. Here is what I saw during the second week.
Jaripeo (2026, Mexico). A melancholy documentary about queer rodeo workers. The gorgeous cinematography finds the beauty in a world full of contradictions. No one here seems to enjoy the sport. Not the terrified animals, the foolhardy riders or the drunken audiences. While the drag performers involved have formed ties, the filmmaker spends most of his time on a masc for masc guy with “no friends.” He’s been sold a macho fantasy, like the rest of us.
(Header image is from Jaripeo.)
Lunar Sway (2026, Canada). A gullible twink (Noah Parker) tries to escape his bleak desert town. He’s approached by a beguiling woman (Liza Weil) who could be his savoir or undoing. I appreciated the quirky cast and surreal art direction. I had no patience for the idiot protagonist. Filmmaker Nick Butler claimed in the talkback that he wanted to write a character who always makes the wrong choice. The guy’s refusal to learn or grow results in a frustrating watch.
Madfabulous (2026, UK). The eccentric Lord Henry Paget (Callum Scott Howells) squanders his family fortune on theater, jewels and clothes. Howells swans about in gorgeous drag outfits. But his self-pity grows dull. The shallow screenplay never lets us into his head. Instead we watch him through the eyes of his long suffering wife (Ruby Stokes). A trope I’ve grown sick of in queer biopics. Rupert Everett gives an understated performance as his supportive butler. It’s a reminder of how much more complex Everett’s Oscar Wilde was in the similar story of The Happy Prince.
Trial of Hein (aka Der Heimatlose. 2026, Germany). One of my festival favorites. An intense young man visits the hometown he fled 14 years ago. No one recognizes him. The villagers demand he prove he’s not an imposter. Filmmaker Kai Stänicke creates arresting images with a mix of rural scenery and stage sets. I grew impatient in the middle stretch. It’s easy to guess why Hein left the island and why his male best friend now avoids him. This is screening at queer film festivals after all. But Stänicke adds a few more twists. The resolution proved worth the wait. Trial of Hein is scheduled for a wider US release on February 5, 2027.
The festival concluded with anniversary screening of The Celluloid Closet (1995, U.S.). The documentary provides a look at queer representation in 20th century Hollywood. The likes of Tom Hanks, Shirley Maclaine and Susan Saranden discuss their experiences playing queer roles at a time it was considered career suicide. Harvey Fierstein defends the “sissy” archetype. Gore Vidal shares a delicious story about sneaking subtext into 1959’s Ben Hur. It’s an entertaining primer that will expand your watch list. The positive rep outweighs some triggery montages of homophobic films. Now that I’ve read Vito Russo’s accompanying book, and seen more films produced outside of Hollywood, I know that this was only the tip of the iceberg. It inspired me to unearth the forgotten gems I’ve recapped on the Avocado over the years.
You can read more of my reviews on The Avocado, Letterboxd and Serializd. My podcast, Rainbow Colored Glasses, can be found here.