reclaiming the self
by
Douglas Messerli
Juan
Sebastián Valencia (screenwriter and director) Now It's Different / 2025
[13 minutes]
A
young man, Josh (Reid Schmidt) is turning 30 and feels that he has lost his
innocent dreams of romantic love over the few years that he has lived in Los Angeles.
He has a regular sexual partner, Dexter (Maurizio Bandi), who has not only
never told him he loves him, but probably doesn’t even remember his name.
And
suddenly Josh is determined to somehow rediscover who he actually is, to restore
some sense of the romantic wonderment he first felt in the gay world on the
city instead of simply meeting up with his Grindr connection(s), adapting to
what he perceived were the adult choices.
The voyage he takes is a rather
predictable one in Los Angeles, up several flights of stairs, twisting and
turning through the hills until it reaches a look-out point over the city on
the opposite side of the Griffith Observatory, a scene used in many movies.
Finally, he leaves both by his sleeping
sex partner, wondering if he might join him at sunset to see the beauty of the
spot.
Since we’ve never even glimpsed Dexter in
anything but a sleeping position we have no reason to believe he might come or
even love Josh enough to pursue such an invigorating voyage. And, frankly, do
we even care? We might simply imagine a far better companion for our somewhat
embarrassed sentimental hero.
Actually, I was even a little sad to see
Dexter show up and perceive some momentary beauty in his life. Is this love? He
has a hard time remembering his bedmate’s name. Not a good sign in my book, I’m
afraid.
Over the years, Columbian-born director
Juan Sebastián Valencia has made several delightful LGBTQ+ films, including Kisses
to Kevin (2022), Chasing Coffee (2023), and Pink Trumpets
(2024); unfortunately, except for some touching moments, Now It’s Different isn’t
one of them.
Los
Angeles, July 15, 2026
Reprinted
from My Queer Cinema blog (July 2026).
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