Spoiler Alert (2022)

By Peter McGinn

I suppose a Madison Avenue advertising rep might label this movie something like “Love Story meets Philadelphia.” But to say it is part of the dying lover genre but with gay lovers is pigeonholing it a bit too much. There are only so many ways a love story between gay men can be told, and ditto for how a dying lover story unfolds. So a few familiar plot details are perhaps inevitable. But even those familiar details, such as one of the men staying closeted to his parents, is handled with a freshness in how it is resolved. And the memories of a childhood as revealed as a 70s sitcom certainly seemed imaginative and different to me. There is a chemistry between the lovers which, let’s face it, is a requirement for the film to work, and the usual ensemble cast of friends and relatives do a fine job so. Spoiler Alert won’t reside on any of my list of favorites or movies to be watched again, but I enjoyed it and admired the respect they showed the subject and the source material when they completed the project.