Judas Kiss

By: Raymond Murray
In-House Review - Aug 02 2011

This gay time-travel tale - peppered with a sexy young cast, high production values and an unconventional script - packs a creative and captivating punch!

Zachary (Charlie David) was a boy wonder filmmaker in his college days. But now, hitting thirty, his best days are long behind him. So when his agent encourages him to travel to his alma mater to judge a student film festival, he reluctantly goes: he has nothing else to do.

Returning to his old campus, he tosses professionalism aside when he has a one-night stand with Danny (Richard Harmon of AMC's hit series "The Killing" and the twisted gay thriller Dear Mr. Gacy), the talented student filmmaker whose much talked about movie is the one to beat at the festival. Sexual shenanigans are the least of his problems when he realizes that there has been some sort of time shift and that Danny is really his 20-year-old younger self! He's looking directly at his past. But Danny's none the wiser: it was just a fling with an old dude as he goes about his tumultuous personal life - juggling relationships with the cocky Shane (Belgian cutie Timo Descamps) and with Chris (Sean Paul Lockhart, a.k.a. Brent Corrigan), a fellow student with a crush on him. As Danny plots his way to an award-winning filmmaking future, Zachary works to change the past... and hopefully his future.

Director J.T. Tepnapa, who made a splash on the gay film festival scene back in 2002 with his short Masturbation: Putting the Fun Into Self-Loving, directs a very talented cast in this unusual gay coming-of-age story.

By: birdutters

Wow, A movie that leaves you with more questions than answers. I enjoyed the movie, but it left me wanting more. Always love Charlie David, he's great in everything. Sean Paul we are going to be seeing more of I'm sure. Richard Harmon went beyond a twink, to a BBC performance. I could see him in a major role, like Game of Thrones. The screen play needed tweaking.But since I bought the blu-ray, I'll watch it, enjoy it, and review it again. Impressive.,

By: David

Judas Kiss represents a huge leap in indie gay story telling.While the coming out stories have there place in this genre, it was great to see a movie where being gay is just a happenstance. It then gave them time to concentrate on story, another words. In this film, screenwriter Carlos Pedraza and director J.T. Tepnapa takes a simple idea -what if you could go back in time and change your past- and spins a tale about the paths we choose when we're young, and how (at the time) we never think about the consequences of our actions. From that idea, the movie borrows small parts from The Twilight Zone and adds a dash of A Christmas Carol and takes us on a journey that while familiar, it is never boring. Charlie David has never been better, giving a wonderful performance of a man in search of redemption for the sins of his past. Meanwhile, Richard Harmon shines as the troubled young man in search of life outside the reach of his damaged father. Mr. Harmon is brilliantly watchable in what should be a breakout performance. Meanwhile, newcomer Timo Descamps (an actor/singer from Belgium) scores as the Big Man on Campus who has an agenda of his own, while Julia Morizawa is dazzling as Abby. While some might call it stunt casting, Sean Paul Lockhart rises to the occasion as a sort of Ghost of Christmas Past. Well known for his gay adult films as Brent Corrigan, Lockhart proves he is more than the sum of his parts. He's likable, charming and shows a vulnerable side which is endearing. Like Mr. Harmon, this could be a game changer for the him.

By: Amos Lassen

It is finally here-J.T. Tepnapa's long awaited film "Judas Kiss", something I have heard about for the last four or five years. It is the story of Zachary Wells (Charlie David), a failed film producer whose best friend and director, Topher convinces him to take his place as judge at the film school's annual festival. Zach was shocked when a student, Danny Reyes (Richard Harmon) that he had had a one night stand with walks into an interview the next morning and uses the name Danny Reyes which was the name Zach went by when he had been a student at the school and was in fact the name he was born with. Zach is judge for the competition where this Danny's film "Judas Kiss" has been entered. Years earlier Zach's own film named "Judas Kiss" won the competition and Zach begins looking for answers. As he does he meets a very strange campus tour guide who advises him to change Danny's past and thereby change his own future. Zach is convinced that he can fix things by disqualifying Danny and showing him a different road than his own. You must admit that this sounds very exciting.

The script mixes realism with surrealism in a story that brings in the issues of romance, darkness and redemption and uses fantasy and melodrama to present the story. In looking at Danny, Zach sees himself at a younger time and he does not know what is going on. Both Danny and Zach realize that there are choices to be made but they are just not sure what to do. The relationship between Zach and Danny is fascinating as it vacillated between desire and mistrust, lust and agony and need and compulsion.

The rest of the cast is made up of Brent Corrigan, Paul Lockhart and Timo Deschamps and the cinematography has been regarded as the best in a LGBT film in quite a while. The film is scheduled to be shown at film festivals this summer and should be released on DVD n the fall. I have really enjoyed the directors other works. His collection of short films, "Begging for Shorts" is a polished collection of excellent short films.