Reviews

The psychological premise of the movie is familiar: two boys on the edge of puberty face a crisis in their friendship when Nicholas, the smaller and shyer boy, gives in to an erotic impulse and plants a peck of a kiss on his pal, Bobby, and Bobby recoils. Then the movie dissolves into murky surrealism. We're not sure whether the friendship is continuing -- real Bobby has been replaced by zombie Bobby, whom Nicholas hides in his bedroom and in a barn that serves as Nicholas' etymology lab. Bobby the silent zombie accepts Nicholas' gestures of care-giving, which include a bath, secretive feeding (who knew zombies need food?) and a shoulder massage. But there is no further overt affection shown except one kiss on Bobby's neck. Another introductory scene shows Bobby dragging a reluctant Nicholas to a school girl's party. The two take part in a game of spin the bottle. When it's Nicholas' turn to take a girl into a closet for a make-out scene, nothing happens except a shadowy man in long underwear pops up behind the clothes rack, apparently as a voyeur. Later on, we learn that the apparition is Nicholas' dead father, who makes a few other appearances for no clear reason.

Secondary characters and choppy dialog add little to the story. We watch Nicholas' mother trying to be supportive of her son and getting little but sullenness in return. The mother's suitor gets a similar brushoff. Near the end, real Bobby hauls zombie Bobby away in a wagon while Nicholas watches. It's hard to know what to make of this scene -- they seem to be parting as friends, yet the mood suggests Nicholas has been abandoned. By this point, Nicholas has been transformed into a zombie himself, and is shown following his father's shade into an abandoned farmhouse. It is anyone's guess whether the real Nicholas is still out there somewhere or has surrendered to schizophrenic fantasy.

I watched this film in a 7-part series on YouTube and I did plod through all seven segments. At the end, I wished I had tuned out after Part 3.

Although this is called a surfer movie, the surfing here was treated as an incidental. I think one of the surfing scenes, maybe the first one, should have been longer and shown the two leads riding the same wave. But aside from such artistic flaws here and there, the situation and plot grab you and carry you along to a memorable finale. It was so refreshing to have a gay-themed movie set in an ordinary town and with an ordinary blue-collar family, with not a single nightclub scene. It was also enjoyable to see gay characters allowed to interact with a young boy and play the Best Uncle role that so many of us carry in real life. The female roles were murkier, and it was hard to fathom what was going through their minds. But the guy/guy romance of the film was stunning. I particularly enjoyed the early scenes when Brad is mystified by the male attraction he's starting to feel. With a cipher of a father, it's obvious Brad needed and found an older brother figure in Shaun. Both guys are good-looking but not Hollywood perfect, which also made the film more credible. If we examined the plot with brutal realism, we might say it would be far-fetched for Brad to be admitted to art school a second time with a full scholarship, or that Shaun would be ready to take on both a partner and a toddler. But I think gay people are entitled to an escapist happy ending once in a while, and Shelter fills the bill quite nicely.