On Netflix
Ira Sachs’s last movie was a critical darling but barely released. It’s a shame because it’s a beautifully shot, extremely sexy, but difficult love story. Erik (Thure Lindhardt) is a dilettante filmmaker who spends a lot of time having sex with guys he meets on phone sex lines, and Paul (Zachary Booth) is the closeted lawyer he starts seeing regularly. They’re hot and heavy and in love, but Paul has a terrible drug problem. The story isn’t anything new, but Lindhardt is extraordinarily charismatic and Sachs’ direction, as in Love is Strange, makes what could be an ordinary movie visually exciting and emotionally powerful. It’s the seedy counterpoint to Sachs’ very wholesome current movie.
