Review: Bros: A steamy, raunchy gay love story

Bobby (Billy Eichner, left) and Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) in a scene from Bros. Photo / Supplied

Bros (115 mins) (rated R) In cinemas now

Directed by Nicholas Stoller

Raunchy, steamy, and very New York, with a blend of outrageous humour and poignancy that brings Schitts Creek (2015-2020, Dan and Eugene Levy) to mind, Bros will appeal to viewers who like a rom-com with a difference.

Bobby (Billy Eichner, American Horror Story, American Crime Story), still single at 40, deals with a bolt-from-the-blue attraction to one particular guy, Aaron (Luke Macfarlane, HBO’s Brothers and Sisters).

Aaron, for his part, has to deal not only with his attraction to Bobby, but also with feelings of inferiority when he compares himself, a retiring backroom lawyer who writes wills, with Bobby, a popular podcaster with an unfiltered approach to telling the world how it is to be gay.

Both Aaron and Bobby are astounded to realise that it is, after all, possible to be in love - but do they like the versions of themselves that love turns them into? Is monogamy really okay?

The cast is largely LGBTQ+, except for cameos from Deborah Messing (Will and Grace) and Ben Stiller (Saturday Night Live). Flamboyant, outspoken, and likely to go off in a huff at any moment, LGBTQ+ people provide the backdrop to the Aaron/Bobby romance.

They’re a group committed to raising funds for a fictional museum, in the process grounding themselves in a context they can be proud of. Their museum will be dedicated to shining a light on queer historical figures, including the possibly gay or bisexual Abraham Lincoln, an interesting - if potentially contentious - angle.

Bros offers a window into the lives of guys who use Grindr to meet other guys online. They tend to have brief sexual encounters, go to the gym and briefly couple or throuple. There are explicit bedroom scenes, and the fast-paced, witty, often hilarious script (by director Nicholas Stoller with Billy Eichner) is often fairly explicit too. And yet, it’s love that is the film’s focus, with a suitably romantic score by Marc Shaiman that brings in ‘Love and Affection’ ( Joan Armatrading) and ‘When I Fall in Love’ (Nat King Cole) at surprisingly appropriate times.

Although Bros is essentially a rom-com, featuring getting together, falling out, reflection and reuniting, there’s a lot to think about.

Aaron and Bobby show us that gay male romance is less tortured than it was in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985, Stephen Frears), Brokeback Mountain (2005, Ang Lee), or Call Me By Your Name (2017, Luca Guadagnino), to name a few big-screen gay love stories. And Bros has plenty to say to all of us, gay or straight or not wishing to be identified, about trust, self-confidence, fear of betrayal and fear of commitment.

The sex scenes may be confronting, but it’s the tenderness and vulnerability of the main characters that lingers. It’s a hopeful film, about people discovering who they are and where they belong.

Highly recommended, for mature audiences.

Movies are rated: Avoid, Recommended, Highly Recommended and Must See.

The first person to bring an image or hardcopy of this review to Starlight Cinema Taupō qualifies for a free ticket to Bros.