May 2
An American 'Stranger by the Lake?' Zane Phillips Stars in a Beach-Set Queer Thriller
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Out "Fire Island" and "Glamorous" star Zane Phillips is starring in the short film "Strangers on a Beach," about a serial killer at large in San Francisco in 1983. His targets: Gay men.
The film, from out writer-director Michael Schwartz (whose other short films include "Snatched"), also stars Broadway actor and "Fellow Travelers" star Jelani Alladin in the role of Calvin – who, according to the film's log line, "just wants to kiss that handsome stranger."
But if there's anything we've learned from queer thrillers by out directors, a kiss can be deadly – and that's a key element to sexy noir with queer-coded subtexts, according to Schwartz, noted in a statement that "the movie was inspired by David Lynch and Brian DePalma's 1980s noir films," Variety reported.
"Studio films of that era often reveled in queer subtext," Schwartz pointed out. "But even between the lines, queerness was frequently coded as danger.
"That kind of projection carried difficult consequences, as did the concealment of identity," the filmmaker added. "By centering authentically queer voices – all while keeping things scary, sexy and strange – we set out to challenge the biases of both the characters and the audience who watch them."
"In addition to many theater credits and his work opposite Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey in 'Fellow Travelers,' Alladin appeared in the Netflix movie adaptation of the Jonathan Larson musical, 'Tick, Tick...Boom,' with Andrew Garfield," Variety noted, while "Phillips recently guested on the new Hulu sitcom 'Mid-Century Modern.'"
Queer short films featuring big names are something of a trend. Pedro Almodóvar cast Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal in his English language debut, "Strange Way of Life," a 30-minute film released in 2023.
Another antecedent might be Alain Guiraudie's gay (and explicit) 2013 thriller "Stranger by the Lake," another beach-set, noirish movie about murder, danger, and queer desire.
"Strangers on a Beach" will have its world premiere at New York's Big Apple Film Festival in June," Variety detailed. "Rounding out the cast are Juliana Aidén Martinez ('Griselda'), Jack Falahee ('How to Get Away With Murder'), Nancy Lam ('Miss Saigon') and Perry Young ('In The Heights')."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
