The central problem with this experimental indie is not merely that its two leads are difficult to like; it is that the film gives their destructive behavior no meaningful dramatic purpose. Beto and August spend the entire movie together, yet the story never develops beyond a series of reckless episodes, leaving little reason for an audience to remain invested. The pair meet at a skate park in LA and immediately seem drawn to one another. Their bond is built around skateboarding, intensely destructive habits, and conversations about life and death. Before long, they agree to end their lives together. The film then tracks their last day as they move through the city, stealing a car and, at one point, threatening to kill a young woman. That outline is essentially the entire film: two men wandering around and creating chaos. Their actions feel random rather than revealing, and the movie offers no substantial explanation for either man's decision to die. It suggests unresolved trauma but never examines it, leaving the premise without the emotional or psychological foundation it needs. The execution is just as thin. The leads never leave the screen for a single scene, but their performances generate no convincing chemistry, and both characters remain thoroughly unlikeable and difficult to watch. The direction feels less like the construction of a story than the recording of two people being allowed to roam around for a day and do whatever they want. Nothing that happens seems worth discussing afterward, while much of their conduct is simply repulsive. The film also provides no…

If you watched and loved Season 1 of Gaycation, Season 2 carries on from exactly where it left off, with that same mix of travel series and proper documentary that made the first season feel so real. Elliot Page and Ian Daniel return, this time heading to Ukraine, India, France, and the Deep South in the US. There’s also a special episode exploring what the Trump administration’s policies meant for LGBTQ+ people. The main run consists of four episodes, each around 45 minutes long, before the special brings it all to a close. Ukraine is their first destination, and they arrive in Kyiv shortly before the country’s second ever Pride march. The tension is palpable; Russian influence and the Orthodox Church seem to weigh on everything. They speak with activists who are truly putting their safety on the line simply to march through their own city, with riot police needed because counter protesters are nearby and prepared to turn violent. One of the most affecting moments comes when they meet a gay soldier who cannot come out to the people he serves beside, and it says a lot about how nationalism and war can make queerness feel like a betrayal. They also get a look at the underground rave scene, where music and dancing have quietly become resistance in their own right. In India, the series takes on a huge contradiction: a colonial-era law criminalising gay sex remains on the books, while the culture itself has a long history of hijra and third gender traditions. In Delhi and Mumbai, they…