Acts Of Love (Documentary)

I am somewhat unsure if this should be classified as a film or a documentary, but because it has appeared at several doc festivals, I will label it a documentary for the time being. The premise follows a filmmaker who moves to Chicago after his older boyfriend loses interest in him; once there, he uses dating apps to find new men for a loose, undefined project investigating attachment, compatibility, and attraction—a concept his mother apparently cannot stand. After sitting through the seventy something minutes, I found the experience to be completely aimless, a sentiment that even the creators themselves seem to acknowledge. While the work does pose some genuinely hard questions, they feel less like intentional inquiries and more like natural byproducts of attempting to navigate intimacy without anyone ever setting clear boundaries.

After splitting from his older boyfriend, Bethel moves to Chicago to start a new life. He has a vague desire to launch a film project, though he lacks any actual concept for it. To begin, he filters through his Grindr matches and invites roughly twelve men to meet him in person. These discussions, which take place in Bethel’s studio, cover a vast range of topics, from how Grindr has altered their dating methods and the way their libidos fade over time to their sexual preferences, their specific subcultures, and general views on art. The vibe of these meetings mirrors a first date almost perfectly—flirtatious and disjointed, occasionally awkward, before abruptly becoming sharp and overtly sexual. The film grows even more experimental as each man is given a script based on these interactions to explore themes of closeness, sex, desire, and attraction. Interspersed throughout are random cut-ins of Bethel talking to his mom on the phone. While she is warm, she remains wary, constantly prompting him to consider the ethics of his project and his true intentions. She questions the risks of making his private life so public, the possibility that he is overstepping boundaries with these men, and whether the entire endeavor is simply narcissism disguised as art. To add to the tension, his ex boyfriend resurfaces at one point, an event that understandably leaves Bethel completely off balance.

While a fascinating concept regarding gay love and sex lies beneath the surface, the execution fails to realize it. Most of the insightful thoughts shared by a few of the men are either sidelined or cut entirely, leaving the film feeling disjointed due to messy editing that relies on random still photos and self-indulgent narration. Even when the mom pushes back against the project’s pretentiousness, the filmmaker seems to shrug off her criticism along with any other real critiques. This results in a film that feels empty and pointless. The only segment that actually worked for me was the first five minutes, featuring Bethel talking about falling for an older man; had he expanded just that into a tight twenty five minute short, it would have been a far stronger piece of work. As it stands, this was just bad. (2/10)