In Between

In Between sits in a register queer romantic cinema has mostly skipped. Nick is in his thirties, gay, husky, and finally on the receiving end of attention from the kind of man the genre normally hands to leaner protagonists. The film is what happens after he gets that attention, what happens when he loses it, and what happens when he stops trying to be a smaller version of himself in order to be loved out loud.

I built the film around proximity. The camera lives close to Nick: handheld, imperfect, unafraid of his face. Apartments, bars, therapy offices are all shot with a warm natural lens that celebrates texture instead of hiding it. The color palette begins saturated and confident, then softens as Nick stops shrinking. The edit lets jokes land and then sits with the silence that follows. The performances are queer-literate first and self-aware second.

The films I think about while making this one are Love, Simon, Am I OK?, I Feel Pretty, and Fleabag. Glossy enough to laugh at, real enough to hurt a little. Underneath every choice is a question I have not seen many films center honestly: what happens when the person rejecting you is yourself.

We made this on an indie budget in Atlanta with a SAG cast and a producing team that brings Broadway, fashion, and queer cinema together at one table. We did not make it as a body-positivity message. We made it as a love story that is allowed to be specific.

It is a story about finally seeing yourself clearly. In a mirror, in love, and in between.