Film
A Very Natural Thing
A groundbreaking 1974 romance about two men navigating commitment, desire, and what love means—told with remarkable gentleness and specificity. It's intimate, frank about sex without being salacious, and deeply concerned with the interior life of its characters. For anyone who wants to see queer love treated as the serious, complicated, beautiful thing it is.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you're drawn to quiet, talky portraits of two men working out what devotion means when desire pulls elsewhere, and you don't mind a 1970s film that lets its feelings sit in plain sight.
Skip it if you need momentum or a plot that keeps moving, since the story circles the same arguments and its scenes linger on talk more than action.
What it asks of you: At 86 minutes it is a leisurely, dialogue-heavy stretch of conversations, long pauses and lingering silences, with few lighter moments to break its earnest, unhurried mood.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Brokeback Mountain2005
A devastating portrait of two men whose love survives decades of separation and self-denial. Like *A Very Natural Thing*, it takes gay romance seriously as the central emotional story, not a subplot, and doesn't look away from the cost of secrecy.
But It's heavy with sadness and sacrifice. The ending is bleak in a way that some find unbearable rather than cathartic.
The Boys in the Band1970
Released just four years before *A Very Natural Thing*, this comedy-drama captures gay social life in New York with wit and sting. It's about friendship, desire, performance, and the masks we wear—thematically rich and genuinely funny.
But The humour can feel dated, and the film's attitude toward its own characters is morally complicated in ways that require some generosity from modern viewers.
Maurice1987
An E.M. Forster adaptation about two men finding love and building a life together. It shares *A Very Natural Thing's* belief that queer love deserves the same romantic and emotional weight as any other love story, treated with care and beauty.
But The pacing is leisurely, almost dreamlike. If you want urgency or conflict, you might find it too gentle.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from A Very Natural Thing
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Chungking Express1994
Both are about the texture of being alone with someone, and the ways desire doesn't guarantee connection.
Wong Kar-wai's genre-defying film about two separate love stories, each unravelling in different ways. The connection: both films use romance as a framework for exploring loneliness, desire, and the gap between what we want and what we can actually build with another person.
But It's visually dense and narratively fragmented. If you need clarity about who is who and what is happening, you will be frustrated.
More like this (8)
My Own Private Idaho1991
Gus Van Sant's portrait of young men on the margins of society, searching for connection and home. Like *A Very Natural Thing*, it's tender about its characters' inner lives and refuses easy judgment about how they live or love.
But It's deliberately fragmented and sometimes obscure in its storytelling. The subject matter—rent boys, poverty—is bleak and uncomfortable.
Weekend2011
A two-hander about two men spending one night together and having to confront what they actually mean to each other. It's a quiet, conversational film entirely about negotiating desire, commitment, and the gap between what we want and what we can have.
But Almost nothing happens plot-wise. It's pure dialogue and emotional wrestling. If you need plot momentum, it will feel static.
Moonlight2016
A lyrical, three-part meditation on identity, desire, and masculinity in the life of a Black gay man. It moves beyond plot into mood and sensation, letting you feel the interior landscape of its character rather than just watching events happen to him.
But It's deliberately impressionistic and spare. Some viewers find it too abstract to connect with emotionally.
God's Own Country2017
A film about a solitary, difficult man who falls in love with a migrant worker on his family farm. It's explicit about sex and genuine about desire, but equally interested in how love softens and changes someone hardened by isolation and expectation.
But The main character is genuinely unlikeable for much of the film. If you need to root for someone immediately, you might struggle.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire2019
A gorgeous film about two women falling in love while one paints the other's portrait. It's sensual and romantic, deeply invested in female desire, and treats the relationship as the entire emotional and artistic centre of the story.
But It's a slow burn with minimal plot. The period setting and painterly pace won't appeal to everyone looking for narrative momentum.
Heartstopper2022
A sweet, sex-positive series about two boys falling in love at school. It's joyful rather than tragic, explicitly celebrates queer relationships, and treats young gay love with genuine warmth and respect without being cloying.
But The brightness and optimism might feel saccharine if you're in the mood for something darker or more complex. It's deliberately gentle.
A Ghost Story2017
Both films are willing to sit with sadness and longing rather than resolve it. They're interested in how love shapes us even when—or especially when—it doesn't work out.
A haunting film about grief, time, and what remains after love ends. It's experimental in form and devastatingly quiet about loss. Like *A Very Natural Thing*, it's interested in the interior landscape of love and what it costs to hold on.
But It's extremely slow, meditative to the point of austerity. There's a scene of someone eating pie for a very long time. It requires tremendous patience.
The Breakfast Club1985
Both films centre the moment when you stop performing for someone and let them see you—and what that vulnerability feels like.
A film about five teenagers stuck together in detention, learning to see past the masks they wear and connect as real people. Like *A Very Natural Thing*, it's fundamentally about the courage it takes to be authentically yourself around another person and the relief when someone accepts who you actually are.
But It's a very 1980s film in every way, and John Hughes' sentimentality won't land the same for everyone. The politics are dated.
People
Cast
- Robert McLaneDavid
- Curt GarethMark
- Bo WhiteJason
- Anthony McKayGary, the Roommate
- Marilyn MeyersValerie, his Fiance
Jay PierceAlan- Barnaby RudgeHughey
- A. Bailey ChapinMinister
- Scott EismanStudent
- Michael KellBoating Family
- Sheila RockBoating Family
- Linda WeitzBoating Family
Directing
- Karen DanaherContinuity
- Sura KaylaContinuity
- Purusha LarkinDirector
Writing
- Joseph CoencasScreenplay
- Purusha LarkinScreenplay
- Joseph CoencasStory
- Purusha LarkinStory
Production
- Leslie RodgersAssociate Producer
- Purusha LarkinProducer