A Queer Review of the Austin Film Festival (2023)
Highlighting the many ways in which AFF 2023 illustrated that the queer experience is not a monolithic one.

Ahmed and Ra'fat both love Laila, but Ahmed marries her first and they have a child. Years pass, during which Ahmed's sister Mona waits for Ra'fat to notice her love for him. As the tripartite aggression takes place, Ahmed is drafted into the army and news arrives about his death.
Highlighting the many ways in which AFF 2023 illustrated that the queer experience is not a monolithic one.
Growing up without a dad, I got a lot of my fatherly advice from the prototypes I saw on the silver screen. It’s these characters and films that gave me a glimpse into a dynamic I had never known but also made me realize that I was missing out. Here are my top 10 paternal films.
What happens to an inseparable bond when love for competing morphs into competing for love?
This is not a film, it’s a drop tower. A drop tower that you don’t get off of for the vast majority of its 106-minute runtime.
A fun-loving story focused on surviving middle school and tailor-made for its target audience. "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" follows the paradox of finding true friendship and securing popularity no matter what it takes.
Honey Don't! is a chaotic queer noir that's part detective story, part midnight movie madness. Margaret Qualley is fantastic as the wise-cracking private eye Honey, with Aubrey Plaza and Chris Evans adding their own dry humor to the mix. The mystery itself is pretty loose, but the film makes up for it with crackling sexual tension, weird side characters, and razor-sharp dialogue. It's messy and uneven, but in the best possible way.