Benjamin Howard won a regional Emmy Award for a short film called Deviant (2018) that he did about a LGBTQ teenager who was conflicted about his sexuality, particularly as it related to his faith. Howard likely made the film while studying at UCLA. His last short film at UCLA was Rendezvous (2021), which won him several awards, including Best Short Film Male at FilmOut San Diego. That film was also about a LGBTQ teenager who is conflicted about his sexuality, or at least struggles with questions about it. Howard's next move was to expand that specific short into this feature, utilizing the same actor. Instead of intersections with faith, Howard's debut feature centers on intersections with sports, mainly American football. What he's crafted is essentially a coming-of-age story involving a queer young person or what is mainly a coming-out story.
If you put aside the independent and international, queer films over the past 30 years, there haven't been that many coming-of-age stories focusing on LGBTQ teenagers. There's even been less about LGBTQ athletes and even less about those in the world of American football. The only one that comes to mind is Gary Entin's Geography Club (2013). There was a nod to it in the TV series Glee (2009) and more recently in the fifth season of All American (2018), but a feature that focused on a gay, American football player either on a high school, collegiate or professional level has been rare, if practically non-existent. Till this day, there's only been one openly gay active player in the NFL, that of Carl Nassib. There's been only one openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL, that of Michael Sam. Reportedly, there have been gay NFL players who never came out or who did so only after their careers were over. According to the website, Out Sports, there have been dozens of gay college football players, some who came out before going to college, so the story that Howard is telling here is one that is ripe to be told on the silver screen. However, at the end of the day, it is essentially another coming-out story, which is the typical story that gets told when it comes to any LGBTQ character.
Jake Holley stars as Dakota Riley, a high school football player who is the son of a former NFL athlete. His father is also the football coach at Dakota's school and Dakota's father is specifically his coach for the school team. His father puts Dakota under a lot of pressure to follow in his footsteps. Dakota at first looks up to his dad and wants to be like him. However, Jake is starting to have feelings that put him on the path of not exactly following in his father's footsteps, specifically in terms of his personal relationship. He's currently dating a beautiful and wonderful girl named Skylar who is also an athlete. When it comes to having sex with her, which all his friends and even Skylar push, Dakota doesn't seem to have any interest or passion at all. Instead, he spends time looking at half-dressed boys and fantasizing about them.
Colin McCalla (Ruthless and All American) co-stars as Jaeden Galloway, the best friend to Dakota. He's the quarterback on the high school team with Dakota who is the wide receiver. When it comes to having sex with Skylar, Jaeden is the one pushing Dakota the most. Jaeden is in general a very sexual person who has no problem expressing it no matter where he is. Jaeden is actually staying at Dakota's house because he says he was kicked out of his own home. He's instead sleeping on the floor of Dakota's bedroom. Jaeden doesn't even mind masturbating while on that floor in Dakota's presence. There's a question of how far and which way his sexuality truly lies.
Yet, the rest is typical of coming-out stories. There are some things here that might not have been typical of coming-out stories a decade or certainly 20 years ago. Those things include the Internet, social media and smartphones. 20 years ago, a gay person would have to find a gay bar somewhere in order to connect with another gay person. Now, there are apps on your phone that can do so a lot better. Those apps also open a person up to exposure and potential outing, if one isn't careful. The one criticism of this film is that Dakota isn't careful or not as careful for someone trying to hide his sexuality. Dakota is constantly on his phone and swiping through gay images or gay apps, even in public spaces where others have a clear view of what he's doing. He doesn't seem to have spatial awareness at times.
Connor Storrie plays Liam, the openly gay student who is in Dakota's classes. Specifically, he's in Dakota's French class and the two get partnered to work on a project. It's obvious where this is going. The closeted football player getting paired with the openly gay student is obvious that something will happen between them. Liam isn't just openly gay. He's very tough and he's one not to back down. He's also one to get aggressive and not let anything homophobic pass without having something strong and loud to say about it. It's clear that Liam knows that Dakota is closeted. Why he would even bother to do anything with him is a stretch.
I suppose that there is some value in the fact that the film seems to take Liam's side in terms of his insistence that no one ultimately cares if Dakota is gay. Yes, a f-slur is thrown out there, but it seems as if the majority of the people at the school know that using it is wrong. Yes, members of the football team laugh, but once Liam pushes back, they all immediately back down, which is probably all the reaction that is needed. Jaeden's reaction to certain things is one of seemingly ally-ship, if not subtle homosexuality on his part. The film doesn't give us much of the aftermath of the coming-out. The film mostly lives in Dakota's repression and paranoia. There is no queer joy to be found here. There isn't much football here either, but there's at least one scene showing Dakota enjoying football or rallying his team in a positive way. There is no such scene involving Dakota enjoying his same-sex attraction or possible queerness.
Not Rated but contains sexual situations and language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 33 mins.
Available on Here TV and VOD.