Sequin in a Blue Room (2019)

'Sequin in a Blue Room', gets points for telling a queer Australian story and starting a conversation about the often-toxic hook-up culture in the gay community - it just doesn't fully nail the landing.
- Chris dos Santos

Read Chris' full article...
https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-sequin-in-a-blue-room-dips-toe-into-hook-up-culture-conversation-but-is-afraid-to-dive-in

SEQUIN IN A BLUE ROOM (2019) is a cold and emotionless film - like the lead character - that rarely captures the interest. The cinematography and score are stronger points but with a lead character like this it's not a world I care to revisit.

Though I thought Conor Leach turned in quite a decent performance here, the story itself is a bit lightweight, sterile and it stretches the imagination just a little too much - even from the perspective of an infatuated teenager. "Sequin" is addicted to anonysex. He meets older guys online and dressed only in a blue sequinned top, he turns up and usually ends up being pinned to the mattress by some random. Then one afternoon at school he is distracted from the delights of "Wuthering Heights" by an invitation to a bit of an orgy, and so off he goes. No names, no chat - just his sort of thing until he encounters a young lad who, for the first time, actually piques his interest. When he is then left with an intriguing challenge, "Sequin" finds his desire to track down his new obsession puts him at loggerheads with both his fairly tolerant dad and with one of his former dalliances whom he tries to use to get to his mystery man. Will he manage to find him, and what are the chances that his happy family fantasy might ever come true? There is one scene at the conclusion that did rather ring true for anyone whose thoughts on first love are all smiley, shiny and perpetual, but the rest of this is all a bit far-fetched as the plot struggles to really get off the ground. It's not a bad looking effort, but the audio mix isn't the best and it's reliance on on-screen text message chats to substantiate the story can make it hard to follow on a small screen. As films about sexual awakenings go, it's worth a watch but it's all just a bit basic.

This was pretty interesting, it follows a young guy into random hook ups, but one night he hooks up with someone who piques his interest and sets out to find this mystery man. Along the way attracts the attention of a dangerous stalker. In the end he is able to survive and get some of the answer he needed, but not the ones that he was hoping for. While not traditional happy ending, it does end on a hopeful note.