Sundance 2018: A Breakthrough Year for LGBTQ Films?

Source: Associated Press

From early LGBTQ films where characters explore and realize their sexuality in coming-out films set in teenage years to recent films in which gay characters fall in and out of love along traditional romantic memes, the focus of LGBTQ cinema has had the sexuality of the characters in the forefront. Even last year the standout LGBTQ features ("Call Me by Your Name" and "God's Own Country" were both showcased at Sundance) still focused on gay romances in this LGBTQ-centric way, while another (the French AIDS drama "BPM") had heavy activist themes.

2018 will be remembered as the year when LGBTQ cinema matured. For me, the change was measured at this year's Sundance Film Festival in my surprise at the number of films I walked into not realizing they featured lead LGBTQ characters. These films portray LGBTQ characters in such a matter-of-fact manner that their sexual identity is no longer an issue or questioned.

If this is indeed an indication as to where queer cinema is heading, it shall help to solidify the acceptance of complex LGBTQ characters as norms in movies. Below is a sample of the many LGBTQ-themed features that will be doing the rounds of film festivals as the year rolls on, and I'm saving the best for last.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

On prom night, Cameron Post (played by Chloe Grace Moretz) is caught with another girl in the backseat of a car. Sent to a gay conversion therapy center, she is subjected to strict discipline, suffocated with prayers and cruel "de-gaying" methods. Here, Cameron also bonds with a couple of gay kids who share her struggles and offer her friendship, support and ways to escape the nightmare.

This second feature from Director Desiree Akhavan (her first, "Appropriate Behavior" explores a bisexual Persian woman finding her identity in Brooklyn) was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Dramatic Feature. While bold and original in the exploration of conversion therapy, and offering a possible reason on why a sizable portion of homeless youth are LGBTQ, the film does not go deep enough to explore the emotional impact of the kids in this world. That's why by the time Cameron screams against the camp's intention to teach kids to hate instead of to love themselves, her call rings hollow and seems to come from an unknown place. This feels like it could have been an even better and poignant film.

Assassination Nation

In today's social media-driven world, a group of high school girls pre-occupy themselves with messages, selfies and online posts that solicit the envy and jealousy of others. But when the intimate and scandalous photographs of a politician are released after a hack into the cloud, the town of Salem, MA (where the famous witch trials happened three centuries ago) erupts into crisis, and the townspeople zoom in on these girls, which include a socially integrated transgender girl.

Screened as part of the film festival's midnight program, this film is bloody and super campy, echoing a sensibility influenced by "The Purge: Election Year" and the use of Miley Cyrus' songs, "Assassination Nation." It is also the breakout that scored a sale of over $10 million, the highest amount by the time the festival closes. One of the stronger scenes of the movie involves the trans girl who is saved by a male classmate just before she was to be hanged only to come back and revenge her attackers in the film's climactic sequence.

Don't Worry, He Won't Go Far on Foot

Gus Van Sant's latest film owns the longest title at Sundance this year. The film explores the life of John Callahan (played by Joaquin Phoenix) after a paralyzing accident. Struggling to gain control of his life, Callahan joins an AA group led by the charismatic, funny and incredibly gay sponsor (played by a superb Jonah Hill). Based on a true story, Callahan turns to drawing cartoons in a career change that saves him.

There is no doubt that Gus Van Sant can draw the best performances from his actors: River Phoenix in "My Own Private Idaho," Robin Williams in "Good Will Hunting," Sean Penn in "Milk." Joaquin Phoenix plays the flawed protagonist's struggles with such fervor that it will not be surprising to see this performance recognized come the next awards season. What draws the loudest laughs are the campy costumes that Jonah Hill wears in the non-therapy private scenes. They are a hoot.

The Catcher Was a Spy

Paul Rudd can play any comedic character with his eyes closed, but in Ben Lewin's ("The Sessions") latest World War II drama, Rudd ventures into uncharted territory, playing Moe Berg, a major league catcher for 15 seasons. With an intention to defeat the Axis Powers, Berg joins the Office of Security Services (which would become the CIA), Berg, a Jewish man, was sent to Germany to find German scientist Werner Heisenberg (Mark Strong) and stop him from building an atomic bomb for the Nazis by any means necessary. Berg's sexuality has always been an unexplored question. Even in this spy movie, we learned that he never married despite having a close relationship with women that's only hinted when he travels to Japan to meet his counterpart (played by the seductive Hiroyuki Sanada).

In this venture into drama, Rudd's natural charm flows with such ease that it elevates Berg's low-key actions to heroic status. It is a compact WWII story following the heels of the gay war hero movie "The Imitation Game" that spotlighted the contribution of Alan Turing. What the film lacks is any exploration into the earnestness of Berg to join the war effort, but it makes up for it by touching on the homophobia in major league baseball and Berg's struggles against accepting the love from his closest female companion.

Hearts Beat Loud

In this festival closer, Nick Offerman ("Parks and Recreation," "Fargo") plays Frank, the widowed father of a lesbian teenager (Kiersey Clemons) who is heading to med school. Weeks before leaving home, the father-and-daughter duo record a song in their regular jam sessions. Frank uploads this song to Spotify which led to them being discovered by a talent scout. On the brink of his record store's closure, Frank discovers hope in keeping his daughter close to him and getting a chance to break into the music scene.

What makes "Hearts Beat Loud" a crowd pleaser is how it focuses on the love between the father and daughter, the reality that how parent and child sometimes reverse roles and the joy that music and art bring to our lives. The ease with which this father accepts his daughter's romance with another girl is laudable, much like the professor father in "Call Me by Your Name." By the time the movie ends, Keegan DeWitt's songs written for the film would have etched deep into our collective memory. Not to be missed.

Spheres: Songs of Spacetime

One area that was explored at Sundance this year is the emergence of virtual reality. The Darren Aronofsky-produced VR series "Spheres: Songs of Spacetime" has been sold at Sundance and will debut on the Oculus Rift later in the year. Will this be a new avenue for filmmakers, queer or otherwise, to explore and expand on the cinema experience or will it just fizzle? The answer shall lie in the filmmakers' talent and the reach of this technology.

This year's Sundance Film Festival wraps without shocking distribution deals, realigning the audience's attention to independent films that tell intimate stories. It remains to be seen how this will influence the landscape of independent cinema in 2018. By any indication, we should see some of these films finding its rightful audience as the year progresses.