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 Cast includes Trevor Wright, Brad Rowe, Tina Holmes
Directed by Jonah Markowitz
Released by Force Queer via Force Entertainment
Those burnt by the recent Australian gay surfer movie, Tan Lines, may find Shelter in this quiet romantic drama penned and directed by Jonah Markowitz, previously the art director on the grungy gay-themed feature Quinceanera.
And like Quinceanera, the characters and aesthetics of Shelter are decidedly working class.
San Pedro surfer, Zach (Trevor Wright), has been forced to give up his dream of going to art school in the big smoke after the death of his mother leaves him as the only responsible carer for his invalid father, drug-addled sister Jeanne (Six Feet Under’s Tina Holmes) and her neglected five-year-old son, Cody (Jackson Wurth).To Cody, whose biological father is a deadbeat yobbo, uncle Zach is his “real Dad”.
With such major responsibilities falling on his shoulders, Zach spends his little spare time surfing, creating street art and drawing on anything that will stay still long enough to be drawn on.
But when Zach’s best friend’s gay brother, Shaun (Brad Rowe, Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss), returns to San Pedro after a relationship bust-up, the two start shootin’ the curls together, and before long they’re ridin’ the big kahuna of love.
The scenes of growing intimacy between Zach and Shaun are beautifully performed and presented, and though inexplicit, carry an arousing erotic charge.
Zach, who we have previously seen declining his girlfriend’s advances, responds to Shaun with a palpably enthusiastic physical passion, all the more remarkable considering Wright is a heterosexual actor.
This being a drama, you know there are going to be wipeouts along the way, and for a while, Shaun is shunned for showing Zach he does have the freedom to be himself, and that all he has to do is take it.
Markowitz’s background in art direction shines through in the film’s aesthetics and cinematography, which are excellent, as is his talent for writing natural dialogue.
Also outstanding is the small cast, which also includes a humourous but touching role for American Pie’s Ross Thomas.
Some have hailed Shelter as “the quintessential gay surfer movie” and some have panned it as “an awkward, phony melodrama you don’t need to be homophobic to hate”, but the truth lays somewhere in between.
Those who can allow their romanticism to overrule their cynicism should find it a quietly rewarding treat.
And given the film’s status as a gay film fest fave, there must be quite a few of us softies out there. [JM]
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