Here’s a rarity for you: An erotic thriller that’s actually good. Like, beyond any potential for Googling the raunchier clips to watch for ‘the articles’, this is a nice and effective mixture of the sensual and dangerous. And like with the better examples in the genre, it works because the two are ever-present within the narrative framework, here shown as a look into hook-up culture in the age of social media.
The titular Sequin (Conor Leach) is a teenager and a regular cruiser who keeps up a wall between him and his one-night stands. They meet, bang, he leaves and blocks their profiles so they don’t try and contact him again. It works out well enough for him… until he arrives at the Blue Room, an anonymous group sex event. He finds someone who captivates him, lets him put down his guard, and even though not knowing who each other are is the whole point of such things, he’s determined to find him.
It’s an interesting take on the larger subject, how the very thing that gives one freedom can also be the main thing keeping us from being truly happy, but where it turns proper thrilling is in how he serves as the lighter side of that coin, while another, with the online handle of B (Ed Wightman), has become infatuated with Sequin in turn. And guard or no guard, he is also determined to find him… whether he wants it or not.
A confronting turn of events, one that shows Sequin being subjected to the potential desperation that he puts all his hook-ups through, and it makes for some pretty tense moments. It’s a coming-of-age story that highlights something inherent in a lot of the genre’s examples, but doesn’t usually get brought out into the forefront as brazenly as it is here: Mistakes are part of growing up. It’s why Jeremy Lindsay Taylor as Sequin’s dad works so damn well, as he imbues the role with the kind of well-meaning paternal tone that reveals someone who accepts his son for who he is, and lets him discover what that means on his own terms. In-between the more gripping moments, where the film cleverly uses location tracking in dating apps as a source for terror, it’s ultimate the story of a gay man learning who he is and what he wants, backed with some fantastic performances.
It is a bit dry, though. Part of that I put down to how this is yet another film with scenes set in a class room that act solely as thematic exposition (with the teacher talking about obsession and other tropes within romance stories), which ends up showing how broad quite a bit of the material can feel at times. And as much credit as I can give to the production values here, namely Brent Williams’ throbbing electronic score and Jay Grant’s cinematography that brings a lot of mood and mystery out of the titular Blue Room, most of it carries a certain generic sheen that I associate with a lot of Aussie indie fare I’ve reviewed in the past, meaning that while it has its narrative identity, the production itself isn’t as stand-out.
Don’t get me wrong, though; it’s still a decent flick. I personally don’t have any experience with the world of online dating apps (social anxiety sucks, what can I say?), so maybe I’m missing out on some of the relatability here, but as a look at romantic infatuation through an exclusively queer lens, it’s got enough visual flair to tap into quite a few moods and vibes, not the least of which being the thrill of the chase, rather than the capture, of love.
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