REVIEW
Based on the book "Loaded" by Christos Tsiolkas, Ana Kokkinos, the Australian director of Only the Brave, has created a vivid portrait of a culturally and sexually confused youth in the person of Ari (brilliantly portrayed by Alex Dimitriades), a Greek-Australian hunk. The exciting drama centers on 24 hours in Ari’s life. A very closeted young man who lives with his traditionalist Greek family, the unemployed Ari spends his days with his fellow Greek friends (including a frustrated girlfriend), partying and taking drugs. And he releases his insatiable homosexual desires through quick public rest room and back alley encounters with a variety of beefy men shown explicitly in this sexually charged film. The clash of his straight world and his gay yearnings come to a head one evening when he meets and is attracted to a cute blond named Shawn and is reunited with his friend Tula (Paul Capsis), an extravagant drag queen determined to be herself even in front of her enraged family. An evening out with them both proves to be a pivotal moment in his life. With a pulsating soundtrack and vibrant visuals, Kokkinos takes us on an intimate, narcotic ride into Ari’s troubled world. A world where being gay means anonymous, secretive sex and where the pressures of conformity are dulled by denial and drugs. (Greek with English subtitles)

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