ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
Five queer nerds gather at a lake house for an epic fantasy role-playing game, but they’re really playing a high-stakes game of desire, sex, and love—especially as best friends Justin and Danny teeter on the edge of a terrifying plunge into romance.

SYNOPSIS
“Fucking gay nerds.” Those three words succinctly summarize the radical cultural context for 5 PLAYER GAME. At its core, 5 PLAYER GAME is a sex comedy, wherein a mischievous, sometimes bittersweet game allows misaligned couples to realign and romance to blossom. But these players are a bunch of goofy queer nerds who present a diverse picture of queer life.

5 PLAYER GAME is a way of claiming space on the screen for beautiful queer people with romantic and sexual selves who do not fit neatly into the extremely homogeneous body types that dominate queer media. As these five tumble through their weekend adventure, in and out of fantasy costumes and swimsuits, into each other’s beds, the film makes a powerful statement about sexual inclusivity.

Additionally, 5 PLAYER GAME takes a tender, thoughtful approach to the porous boundaries many (but not all!) queer people maintain between sex and friendship. For several of the players in the game, sex and friendship and romance all sit with each other quite naturally. But for Danny and Justin, longtime best friends with romantic potential, that line is very hard to cross!

Even in the most liberated queer societies, relationships do have the potential to change when sex is added to the picture. After all, the game of love is deeply connected to one’s sense of self-worth and fears of rejection. But if Danny and Justin can move through those obstacles, if they can take that journey together, the love they find as a reward will be all the sweeter.

PROJECT TYPE Narrative Short

DIRECTOR Gary Jaffe
SCREENWRITER Gary Jaffe
PRODUCER Emily McCann Lesser, Olivia Mastrangelo

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