What’s immediately impressive about this low-budget documentary on body image in the Australian gay community is how willing the interview subjects are to speak frankly about perceptions of their own bodies – including whether they’re typically considered sexually desirable or the reverse.

While their stories are all different, they point towards a single thesis: that gay culture reflects and even exaggerates the prejudices of wider society in its privileging of an image of masculinity that is youthful, muscular and most commonly white.

Director Roger Ungers may be over-fond of cloying slow-motion inserts, but he’s serious about the idea of not judging by appearances: we spend enough time with each of these men that we’re forced to rethink any conclusions we might have reached at first glance. Nor is the film aimed solely at a single demographic: there’s plenty here to interest anyone who has wondered if their own body is the right kind. Screens as part of the Midsumma Festival. Capitol, Sunday, 3.30pm.

Jake Wilson  

(Extracted from the printed version of The Age newspaper - January 27th 2024)