“Do you give?”

Do you give up? Do you tap out, submit to my power, my authority, my cock? That’s the question Ray puts to Colin during their first hook-up, locked palm-to-palm in a very one-sided game of Mercy. And the cock in question is hardly beginner-friendly. Colin responds with a half-baked “yes” - more question than answer - as he jumps (or is he pushed?) off a cliff into unknown waters without checking the depth. But ten minutes later he’s licking his lips, asking for more as he trots back down the high street after Ray, always one step behind.

“Do you give?”

Do you give in to desire? And if so, at what cost? That’s the question that, as a queer person, you ask yourself when you hit puberty and realise, in the school changing room or the underpants aisle, that… fuck! Your desires don’t match the norm. For kinksters it can be worse. Your desires seem even more remote, less historied, likely to result in mockery or disgust. So you zip them up and let them fester, dirty little secrets, while loneliness grows around you and becomes habit. But then, if you’re lucky, someone comes along who helps you reframe the question. Not: do you give in to desire? But: do you give in to societal expectation? Do you let the conventions of the majority dictate your own shot at happiness? The fuck you do! And in time someone becomes someones, a community of fags or perverts or both, and bit by bit, stitch by unpicked stitch, desire becomes less warped by guilt. Maybe there’s a bike ride or two along the way...

Be naughty! That’s the mantra I’ve come to live by, or at least try my best to, where naughtiness is defined as following your desires in the face of the status quo. Of course not everyone has the luxury of doing so without putting themselves in danger. But if you do, enjoy it. Fly that freak flag high.

And now I’m asking you to submit to my film, to leave the comfort of your sofa, make your way to a cinema, turn off your phone and shut your mouth for 106 minutes (except to laugh or cry or lick your lips) while you give in to MY VISION. It’s a big ask - and maybe I don’t have the minerals to cosplay Ray, because I want to say THANK YOU, and tell you it’s okay to go to the toilet if you absolutely have to, and make clear it’s not just my vision, it’s the vision of lots of brilliant people who worked their gorgeous behinds off to get this film written and made and out in the world. But Reader! I can sense your erections wilting under the weight of such grovel. So hurry down to the cinema to get the blood pumping again. Everyone’s welcome! But if you don’t write a nice review on Letterboxd... you’ll pay for it later.

With love and HEAPS of gratitude

Harry x