Love & Revolution (2023)

“Miguel” (Omar Banana) knows how to strut his stuff, Donna Summer style, but his mother “Reme” (Ana Wagener) isn’t quite clued into the ramifications of his hip swaying and flamboyance until an altercation at a wedding brings her face to face with an an uncomfortable truth in 1970s Spain. She’s terrified he will find himself in trouble and she isn’t far wrong after he leaves home and moves in with some protesting theatrical types who are determined to see the laws that support the oppression of the gay community struck down now that the era of fascism has officially ended. He has some talent does young “Miguel” and so they propose to give him a slot on stage at their drag night, but his nerves find him accidentally on the wrong side of a fire door and in the hands of the law. They draft in a friendly lawyer but as neither she nor his mother can talk to him in custody, they all have to resort to other forms of protest to try to win both his and their freedom. Wagener leads an ensemble cast that just about holds this quite flaky story together, but the emphasis of the plot is really much more to do with the ridiculousness of legislation that bundles homosexuality in with vagrancy, petty thievery and street walkers. Much of their planning goes on right under the nose of the less that supportive church which adds a fun bit of irony to the plot, too. As a feature, it’s not really the best and the production isn’t great either, but it delivers it’s message entertainingly allowing the absurdity of the law and of the small-town gossiping mentality to speak for themselves.