Look, I set out into this world armed with a film degree and I’m not afraid to watch a low budget indie flick and muse on it for the next few days. So naturally I’m hyped for NewFest, New York City’s LGBTQ+ film festival, every year. I was really looking forward to attending the festival in person this year, but had the opportunity to travel for work this week and had to settle for a virtual pass. But babe, I really put that pass to test and watched so so so many films this week. From campy sci-fi adventures to devastating documentaries, every film reminded me how expansive queer storytelling can be. Here’s a rundown of some of my favorites.
Laugh Riots Shorts Program
I kicked things off strong with Laugh Riots, a lineup of queer comedies that ranged from absurd to unexpectedly touching. The standout for me was She Raised Me, a delightfully bizarre short about a man whose famous actress mother is, quite literally, a puppet. It pulled off high-concept weirdness with both humor and heart.
Then there was Bugged, a chaotic comedy set in a Bushwick apartment crawling with bedbugs and queer tension. It made me an anxious wreck the whole time and I mean that in the purely enjoyable way. They’re Packing took a darker turn, exploring queer fear and self-defense in a gun training class that felt all too timely. Together, the shorts balanced satire and sincerity, a reminder that queer humor often doubles as survival instinct.
In Your Face! Shorts Program
The In Your Face! showcase lived up to its name with a collection of shorts that are unapologetically loud, messy, and completely unbothered with playing nice. These shorts were bursting with bold visuals and genre experimentation. Here are a few that stood out to me.
The first film, Are You Fucking Kidding Me?! is a mix of class critique and dark comedy, featuring a broke clown performing at a terrible birthday party that leads to a very awkward moral dilemma. Nest brought the gore with a bizarre trans body horror story that was as grotesque as it was symbolic. And Attagirl! is a campy blaxploitation-inspired chase through New York City’s streets, complete with silent-film-style dialogue cards and an Amanda Lepore cameo for good measure.
If You Wanna Be My Loverboy Shorts Program
If You Wanna Be My Loverboy was probably my favorite of the short showcases I saw. Each one of these films connected with me and balanced tender love stories with dark introspection. Orion’s Quest opened the program with a sexy sci-fi shimmer starring Dyllon Burnside as an alien studying love between Black gay men that felt both otherworldly and deeply human. Fan Letter was gorgeously shot, telling the story of a 1950s crooner confronting the love (and compromises) he left behind. Pining was so exciting to me because I’ve actually stayed in the Fire Island house it was filmed in, the Twink Garage.
The Upper Room and Lisbon brought the showcase into heavier territory. Telling the stories of two Pentecostal pastors meeting for a secret annual tryst and a haunting encounter with mortality featuring John Cameron Mitchell. The final films, Within a Quiet Body and Brief Somebodies, gave us an unfiltered view at repression, desire, and the blurred lines between performance and pain. Taken together, the collection paints a vivid portrait of queer love across time, space, and genre.
Lesbian Space Princess
Directed by: Emma Hobbs & Leela Varghese
While I enjoyed so many of the films I watched this week, Lesbian Space Princess was definitely one of my favorites. The film follows Princess Saira, who lives on the planet Clitopolis with her two neglectful lesbian moms. After a breakup with her bounty hunter girlfriend Kiki (of two weeks, so lesbian), Saira sets out to rescue her ex from the “Straight White Maliens” who plan to drop her into a vat of toxic home brew. Appropriate.
It’s a wild, intergalactic quest that features a “Problematic Ship” with bro energy, a singing sidekick who escaped a K-pop band, and a drag queen villain named Blade. The movie is packed with clever in-jokes, queer symbolism (our princess has to learn to pull a labrys axe out of her vagina), and a surprising amount of emotional resonance.
Under all the absurdity, Lesbian Space Princess is really a story about self-worth, learning to love yourself even when you don’t feel cool or confident. The vibe is like But I’m a Cheerleader meets Adult Swim, with a little lesbian mythology and a lot of heart.
A Night Like This
Directed by: Liam Calvert
A moody and tender “Christmas” movie, A Night Like This follows Lukas, a struggling actor, and Oliver, a privileged but self-destructive aspiring musician, as they cross paths on a winter night in London. What starts as a chance encounter turns into an intimate exploration of connection and loneliness.
It’s the least Christmas-y Christmas movie imaginable with no cozy clichés or holiday cheer, but delivers something much deeper: two queer men trying to find themselves amid the chaos of their own lives. Alexander Lincoln, from In From The Side, gives a beautiful and charming performance that adds some emotional heft to the indie romance vibe. No spoilers but the ending is bittersweet and might leave you wishing for more.
Only Good Things
Directed by: Daniel Nolasco
Set in 1980s rural Brazil, Only Good Things begins as a tender, sensual romance between Antonio, a lonely farmer, and Marcelo, a mysterious motorcyclist who crashes near his property. What starts as a quiet erotic love story with sun-drenched scenery and water-soaked intimacy gradually transforms into a haunting meditation on memories and the passage of time. The film is both grounded in physical desire and elevated by its surreal second half. We eventually find ourselves in a modern-day mystery, where the story isn’t just about love but about the ways we’re shaped and haunted by it.
Night in West Texas
Directed by: Deborah S. Esquenazi
In 1981, James Reyos, a young gay Apache man from Odessa, Texas, was coerced into confessing to the murder of a Catholic priest and sentenced to nearly four decades of confinement for a crime he didn’t commit. Night in West Texas unravels this harrowing case with both empathy and fury, exposing how racism and homophobia shaped the justice system that failed him. The film avoids the usual true crime sensationalism, instead focusing on the devastating human toll of a wrongful conviction. It’s heartbreaking to watch Reyos confront new evidence that could’ve exonerated him years ago, and equally powerful to see modern investigators acknowledge the prejudice that once sealed his fate. A sobering, deeply moving story about injustice and the lifelong cost of being misunderstood.
She’s the He
Director: Siobhan McCarthy
Another one of my favorite films in the festival. A hilarious and subversive twist on your favorite high school comedies, She’s the He tells the story of two best friends who pretend to be trans to pick up girls. Except one of them realizes she isn’t pretending. Its candy-colored chaos feels like a John Waters homage to Mean Girls or She’s the Man, leaning into absurdity but never losing its emotional grounding. Nico Carney delivers a standout comedic performance as Ethan, capturing both the film’s farcical energy and its sincere exploration of identity. It can be absurd, gross, and full of big laughs but it’s also about allyship, identity, and finding yourself in a world that still doesn’t quite get it.
It was a wild week watching so many queer films packed into just one week. I was definitely riding high and inspired by so many queer stories. Did you attend NewFest in person or virtually? Which film are you most excited about?
Film stills and promotional images are the property of their respective copyright holders. Used here under fair use for commentary and review. All opinions and takes are my own.
