Well, it's been a while since I last wrote a movie review and I got the writing bug again, so I felt like reviewing a movie I recently saw.

Shared Rooms is the gay man's answer to a hallmark movie for elderly audiences around Christmas. I know some of you will call me a whimsical fool for picking this movie out of hundreds of more deserving LGBT features from festivals to alternative media web series, but I really enjoyed this movie.

It's a narrative story of disconnected gay men, who are tied together in strings of common Surreptitious fate. Like a lighter version of "Crash" meets a gay male's "Love Actually"".

It's funny romp of people in settled relationships, people who are aimlessly looking for love and just settling for one night stands on Grindr/Manhunt/whatever is out there (like me), and those who fail to realize the things they have or the people who love them. It's comedic too with timely jokes ranging from light humor about gay sex and voyeurism to dark tones like gay teenage abandonment and even a Trump joke just for the fun.

Here's the outline of the 3 stories:

1. Cal and Laslo are a married gay couple, who do not want kids and had never thought they'd have any. Well, plot twist, Cal's Teenage nephew was thrown out for being gay and he comes to seek refuge from his gay uncle. This trope is one we all know, but I promise you guys it is a lot more touching in film and the characters actually make good points.

2. Sid and Gray have just hooked up like many of us with an app. They're realizing they are into each other far more than the one night stand as they share things in common. A few voyeur jokes come as Sid is a stereotypical photographer/artist, but I like the storyline more for a personal, "if only things could be that easy" moment.

3. Julian and Dylan are roommates, who act like a married couple, but just don't understand they're perfect for each other. It's another trope from gay storytellling to have two gay men living together and not realizing they love each other, but it sort of works as their emotional attachment is so overt that it actually is subtle.

Overall, it's a feel good gay movie, drama ensues, but it's decent drama with an above par character chemistry for a gay film.

I also appreciate the holiday theme of family and togetherness that this film conveys, no matter how different our relationships, our love lives, and our connections are with one another, we share many more common themes as Gay men in what we desire and what we aspire for in our love lives. In the end, the comedy and drama works

8.5/10

I'd recommend it for a viewing