You've come a long way, baby

It is often suggested that gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-identified individuals, scarred by homophobia and the coming-out process, take longer to come into their own skin. The same could be said of queer cinema. At Reeling: The Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival, kicking off Thursday 4, overbearing mothers, frustrated fag hags and openly gay inmates showcase a cinematic sensibility on par with the era of marriage equality. This year’s 29th annual fest offers nuanced glimpses into the queer experience.

As the struggle for gay and lesbian equality trickles into developing nations, two Bahamian men find themselves at odds with their island paradise in Children of God, the festival’s opening-night film. Unlike the rainbow-hued popcorn fluff that usually dominates Reeling’s opening-night slot, the festival has chosen (wisely, I would argue) to roll the dice with this sensitive portrayal of a community at a crossroads. Its most compelling character is Lena, a religious conservative whose husband lives a secret gay life.

Bratty Gap-ad twentysomethings and their milquetoast problems are at the heart of Four-Faced Liar, a Manhattan-set drama that showcases the enduring (and unfortunate) influence of Gen-X cultural phenomena like Rent and Friends. Seemingly unfettered by a lousy economy, a quartet of beer-swilling cuties—out and proud Bridget, her roommate Trip and their boring pals Greg and Molly—struggles to find love while swaddled in chic scarves and sweaters. I’m ashamed to admit that this spit-and-polish indie feature is also compulsively watchable.

Keep your eyes peeled for JoJo Baby, arguably the best film in this year’s lineup. Funded and supported by out horror meister Clive Barker, this slow but intriguing doc tells the story of Wicker Park Flatiron artist and Chicago club fixture JoJo Baby. Lacking compelling interview subjects, directors Mark Danforth and Dana Buning instead focus on JoJo himself, a subdued character who spends most of his time holed up like Miss Havisham or “Big” and “Little” Edie Beale in his treasure-filled art studio. Filmed during a dreary Chicago winter, this doc masterfully paints a portrait of a true Chicago original.

It’s not the only compelling doc. The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls offers an ebullient portrait of indefatigable Kiwi folk duo Jools and Lynda Topp. Wearing multiple hats including country singers, activists, dancers, comedians and yodelers, these irrepressible lesbian twins (who live together on a farm with their girlfriends) have forged a decades-long career that has won the hearts of New Zealand’s most rural communities. It’s the fest’s most uplifting entry. The same can’t be said for Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger, a compelling examination of the infinitely charming Winnetka-born movie star who was among the most prominent victims of the AIDS crisis. Hudson’s inner circle, including author Armistead Maupin, effusively reflects on an American icon discovering his sexuality in the wrong place at the wrong time in history.

The prescient Don’t Ask Don’t Tell yarn A Marine’s Story finds a tough female marine returning home to California’s conservative Central Valley after being discharged by the military over alleged lesbian shenanigans. She takes a would-be drug user under her wing while under scrutiny by some of the small town’s less savory characters. It’s an interesting film, and Dreya Weber in the lead role is mesmerizing.

Reeling has chosen the utterly silly gay thriller Flight of the Cardinal, about a mysterious stranger who threatens the lives of a quartet of close friends relaxing at an Appalachian B&B, as one of its Centerpiece films. A wiser pick would’ve been Handsome Harry, an intriguing story with a twist about a middle-aged navy vet seeking atonement over an atrocious act of homophobia during his youth and featuring an accomplished cast (Steve Buscemi, Aidan Quinn, Campbell Scott).

Sexual orientation is fluid in a duo of foreign entries. In Eloïse’s Lover, a preppy university student finds her life jolted out of the humdrum by an exotic artist who is both out and outcast. In the adrenaline-fueled and hormonal Hong Kong drama Amphetamine, a street-tough swim instructor finds himself inexplicably drawn to a suave gay businessman. It’s by far the festival’s most erotic, intense and gorgeously shot entry.

Reeling kicks off Thursday 4.

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