When the world was shutting down and isolating in early 2020, Terry Goon (John Early) was keeping strict quarantine in the Brooklyn brownstone where he lives, though is actually still owned by his ex-husband and serial cheater, Leo (John Roberts). When Stress Positions opens, Terry is attempting to take care of his 19-year-old nephew from Morocco, Bahlul (Qaher Harhash), who has injured his leg in a scooter accident and is now in a full leg cast. Bahlul also happens to be a male model, and when Terry’s friends (and even a few frenemies) find out that the nephew is bedridden in Terry’s downstairs guest bedroom, they come swarming, breaking every social-distancing rule in the book and causing Terry a massive amount of anxiety.
Among those on the prowl is Terry’s best friend Karla (filmmaker Theda Hammel), a trans woman who can’t keep a secret and can’t even get the details of the secrets she’s spilling correct. Anytime someone comes ringing the bell, Terry comes armed with masks and instructions not to touch anything, so of course, by the end of the film, there’s a full-on party in Terry’s backyard with nary a mask in sight. There’s not really a story to Stress Positions, which is more a slice-of-life tale about this little gay corner of the world where issues of identity, loss, relationships, and sex all come crashing down like a cyclone of chaos and hilariously biting commentary—the kind only friends can rain down on other friends.
The cast is fascinating to observe as they illustrate how even members of the LGBTQ+ community can be ignorant about how the outside world works and maybe even a tiny bit racist, especially when it comes to where exactly Morocco is and whether or not it’s a terrorist country. But director Hammel expertly establishes this sense of an outsider community that somehow makes it all work, despite many disasters that threaten to crumble their way of existence (so much drama). Nerves become frayed, but there’s a support system of friends, allies and collaborators that is so distinct and mostly reliable—until you throw a hot new male model into the mix; then all bets are off. There are times when this film had me anxious, but more often than not, I was howling at these wonderful characters just doing their thing.
The film is now playing at the Landmark Century Center Cinema.
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