“Sequin in a Blue Room” (R) ** and a half

THE opening credits for writer/director Samuel Van Grinsven’s film make no bones in declaring that what’s coming is a homosexual film.

The last entry in the closing credits is also significant. It acknowledges the film to be an AFTRS production. What’s AFTRS, do I hear somebody ask? It’s the acronym for Australian Film, Television and Radio School.

From that information, and an unproductive search of several internet resources for career information about Samuel, I conclude that this 88-minute film, with economical production (but not stingy) values, may well be his graduation piece.

On that account, it evidences not only his prowess but also that of the school.

What’s its intended audience? People in search of distraction, laughter, excitement, fantasy, all those overworked elements of run-of-the-mill potboiler escapism, won’t find any of those here.

In a way, it’s a polemic examining an aspect of human behaviour on which so-called red-blooded men think it’s fun to pour scorn. It deals with an aspect of male behaviour that’s there from the instant of conception until death. No medical procedure or pharmaceutical nostrum can alter it.

In “Sequin in a Blue Room”, 16-year old Sequin (Conor Leach), so named for the crop top he always wears when having sex, is gay and comfortable about it. Indeed, he’s becoming a popular partner for older gay men, a sort of he-whore who, while still at school, hooks up with clients on his smart phone. His only rule is never to take the same customer more than once.

There’s a strong, but not explicitly shown, indication that he enjoys being on the receptive end of sodomy. His family knows nothing about his behaviour.

The film’s visual elements never go south of the hip bones. The narrative develops when Sequin gets invited to an orgy. Here in a blue room, he meets older gay men seeking fresh meat to dominate. Later, he meets feminised male entertainers. Out of his depth emotionally and intellectually, he meets a married man who becomes a threat that won’t go away.

“Sequin in a Blue Room” seems unlikely to make big money, which is the film industry’s end product. I commend Dendy for screening it. Those 2½ stars measure my assessment of its general audience appeal, not of its production quality. I hope that members and friends of the local gay and lesbian communities will patronise it. And I wonder where Samuel Van Grinsven’s career will go next.

At Dendy