Just a heads up that one of last year's best festival titles is playing on Netflix Instant Watch. Yen Tan's Pit Stop unfortunately never saw theatrical release but it won a few festival prizes along its way including from my jury at the Nashville Film Festival (Best Screenplay) and we've mentioned it a couple of times her via Glenn at New Fest and my interview with Yen Tan at Towleroad.
The romantic drama follows two lonely gay men in rural Texas named Gabe and Ernesto (Bill Heck and Marcus DeAnda) who are both struggling to move on with their lives after painful breakups. Their paths occasionally cross but they aren't aware of each other -- it's not exactly a visible or social gay community -- until the final act of the movie.
If you've ever seen Yen Tan's Ciao (2008), which has a much different plot but a similar romantic trajectory, you know that he favors slow simmers to boiling drama. Those types of films are always easier sits in movie theaters when you're less distracted by other screens but I'm hoping people give it a shot for home viewing because by the end its generated strong and cumulative emotions. And bonus points, most of the actors are very good (indie darling Amy Seimetz is typically fine as Gabe's ex-wife). All that and it contains one of the hottest yet modest and emotionally moving sex scenes in recent years.
Plus this cut from Ernesto to Gabe, both cuddling with their pets, made my heart melt.
The cut is actually in reverse but I had to lead with the cat.