Giant Little Ones from writer-director Keith Behrman, explores the age-old story of the trials and tribulations of figuring out who you are. Franky and Ballas are best friends since childhood. They’re also “high school royalty” — handsome, stars of the swim team and popular with girls.
On the night of Franky’s 17th birthday party, something happens between the two young men that sets off a tumultuous chain of events As one character in the trailer states: ‘You and Ballas did something that straight guys don’t normally do.’ What follows is a test of friendship and beyond.
Coming-of-age stories have been told time and time again, both with queer characters and (more often) without. There is a universality about them, speaking to both teen audiences and adults remembering their own days of youth. Last year alone gave us both Love, Simon and Alex Strangelove. Based on the trailer, Giant Little Ones seems to strike a different tone than either of those.
Variety called it: “Polished and lively, with just enough fresh angles to avoid feeling like a rote recycling of gay cinema tropes” and Jared Mobarak said in his review, “Writer/director Keith Behrman knows exactly what he’s doing when introducing a variety of people along the sexuality spectrum. He’s intentionally flooding his canvas so that we have no choice but to accept them all rather than turn our focus onto just one.
There’s no room for token characters anymore, the real-life disparity between heterosexuals and homosexuals closing as each year passes. So Behrman looks to represent that change on the big screen by giving his lead a trans friend, a gay father, and a gay teammate on the swim team. He surrounds Franky with non-cisgender characters to love, resent, and accept each for different reasons that transcend compassion.”
