Film

Jeffrey

A 1995 New York comedy about Jeffrey, a gay man gripped by AIDS anxiety who swears off sex, then meets the perfect man—who's HIV-positive. It's funny and tender, wrestling with real fear while refusing to be grim. For anyone who loves character-driven comedies that don't flinch from what they're about.

TMDb rating3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like sharp, talky comedy about anxious people trying to love without losing their nerve, where the jokes come out of real fear and a priest who refuses to be solemn.

Skip it if you want a romance that plays it straight, since this is more often a set of conversations and friends talking than a love story carried by its two leads.

What it asks of you: Expect a lot of talk, a tight focus on one man's anxiety, quick scenes, and a circling back to the same worry.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Love! Valour! Compassion!1997

Another Terrence McNally adaptation about gay men at a Hudson Valley house party. It's warm, witty, and handles both comedy and mortality with grace. The ensemble cast is electric.

But It's a stage play on film, which means sometimes the theatricality overwhelms the naturalism. Pacing can feel uneven to modern eyes.

Love! Valour! Compassion! poster

Longtime Companion1989

The first major American film to seriously reckon with AIDS and gay love. It follows a group of friends over a decade with both humour and heartbreak. Essential viewing.

But It's older and moves slower than Jeffrey. Some will find it dated; others will find that authenticity cuts deeper.

Longtime Companion poster

The Boys in the Band1970

A group of gay men at a birthday party in Manhattan, layering comedy over vulnerability. It's caustic and kind by turns. Feels like a spiritual ancestor to Jeffrey's tone.

But The script can feel stagey and the depiction of gay life reflects its era—some of it lands as comedy, some as period artifact.

The Boys in the Band poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Jeffrey

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Parting Glances1986

Both are New York-set comedies about gay men navigating AIDS and desire as simultaneous realities, refusing the either/or. Both believe love and laughter belong in the same scene.

A couple spends one day in New York as one partner prepares to leave—for work, yes, but coded as forever. It's achingly human and funny and tragic at once. About ordinary love in an extraordinary crisis.

But It's a small, quiet film made on a shoestring. Some will find it too minor. It asks you to feel rather than think.

Parting Glances poster
More like this (7)

Trick1999

Two men spend one night trying to get home to have sex, but the universe keeps intervening. It's light-hearted and sweet in a way that feels like an older sibling to Jeffrey's sensibility.

But The plot is deliberately thin. If you need plot momentum and stakes, this will feel like standing in place.

Trick poster

Philadelphia1993

Tom Hanks as a lawyer fighting his firm after being fired for his AIDS diagnosis. It's serious where Jeffrey is comic, but both films grapple with stigma and love under threat.

But It aims for mainstream respectability over authenticity. Some feel it softens the edges of what it's really about.

Philadelphia poster

As Good as It Gets1997

Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt in a romantic comedy about two broken people surprising each other. Different from Jeffrey but shares the warmth and the willingness to let comedy coexist with genuine emotion.

But It's schmaltzy in places. The ending especially feels engineered for crowd-pleasing rather than earned.

As Good as It Gets poster

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar1995

Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo as drag queens driving across America. It's silly and full of heart. Released the same year as Jeffrey; they're spiritual twins in tone.

But It can feel dated in its representation and it prioritises charm over edge. Some will find it too soft.

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar poster

My Own Private Idaho1991

Gus Van Sant's fever dream about two hustlers in Portland. It's visually stunning and emotionally raw. If you want something that goes deeper and weirder than Jeffrey.

But It's difficult and unresolved. The narrative is fractured and it doesn't offer comfort. Very different energy.

My Own Private Idaho poster

C.R.A.Z.Y.2005

Both hinge on the father-son or chosen-family dynamic as the real love story. Both refuse to see AIDS or sexuality as the only thing about these men.

A French-Canadian family saga spanning decades, following a father's journey from homophobia to love, woven through rock and roll. It's sprawling and gorgeously shot. Subtitled but works in any language.

But It's slow. It's a family film more than a gay film, so if you want the community piece, this isn't it. Also quite long at 127 minutes.

C.R.A.Z.Y. poster

Summer of 852020

Both films understand that for gay men, desire and mortality arrive together in the narrative. Jeffrey makes comedy from that collision; this one makes tragedy. Same haunting truth, opposite tone.

A lush Belgian film about a summer romance between two teenage boys, shot through with dread and longing. It's visual and sensual and ends in ambiguity. By François Ozon, who knows how to make beauty hurt.

But It's not funny. It's drenched in melancholy and it doesn't resolve. If you need lightness or answers, this will leave you hanging.

Summer of 85 poster

People

Cast

Directing

Writing

Production

Recommended by

Weekend, The Normal Heart, Parting Glances, Love! Valour! Compassion!