Queerguru reviews the World Premiere of SAUNA : where a cis gay man falls in love with a gay trans man
Sauna the debut feature film from Danish writer/director Mathias Broe carried a high expectation that this was such a new addition to the queer canon, yet it somehow lost its potential potency as its plot played out. This is the story of country boy Johan (Magnus Juhl Andersen) who has moved to Copenhagen where he works at Apollo a popular gay sauna cleaning up after all the nefarious activities of the clientele. It appears he spends all his spare time there and enjoys a very busy sex life too.
That still doesn’t stop him from using the Grindr App to score more hook ups with men. For some reason, he is not too thorough in reading profiles when he swipes right and focuses more on the person’s picture. This is why one night his ‘date’ William (Nina Terese Rask) turned out to be a trans man.
Rather than be put off by the fact Johan is both intrigued and attracted and not too long after asks for a second date where they consummate their potential relationship. Kudos to Broe for making this encounter between a sis gay man and transman appear so authentic and natural, and I do wish it had progressed from there.
What we see however is Johan struggling with his own identity which creates a downward spiral whilst the self-assured William who has finally had top surgery and is very comfortable with his supportive closeknit group of friends. Whilst we see a lot of him physically naked, we never get to see Johan’s backstory which may have helped us understand his approach to his own life
Review by ROGER WALKER-DACK.
Creator, Owner, Editor-in-Chief. Miami Beach, FL / Provincetown, MA
Member of G.A.L.E.C.A. (Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association) and NLGJA The Association of LGBT Journalists. and The Online Film Critics Society. Ex Contributing Editor The Gay Uk & Contributor Edge Media Former CEO and Menswear Designer of Roger Dack Ltd in the UK ‘one of the hardest-working journalists in the business‘ Micheal Goff of Towleroad
AP by OMG
Asian-Promotions.com | Buy More, Pay Less | Anywhere in Asia
Shop Smarter on AP Today | FREE Product Samples, Latest
Discounts, Deals, Coupon Codes & Promotions | Direct Brand Updates every
second | Every Shopper’s Dream!
Asian-Promotions.com or AP lets you buy more and pay less
anywhere in Asia. Shop Smarter on AP Today. Sign-up for FREE Product Samples,
Latest Discounts, Deals, Coupon Codes & Promotions. With Direct Brand
Updates every second, AP is Every Shopper’s Dream come true! Stretch your
dollar now with AP. Start saving today!