There’s been a lot of discussion and reaction surrounding the decision to exclude Travis Matthews’ I Want Your Love from this year's Melbourne Queer Film Festival. Many people have voiced their disagreement with the Classification Board’s reasoning that the film's six minutes of sexual content didn't contribute to the story, and I share that view—the sex felt very much driven by the characters involved. What struck me was just how unarousing realistically portrayed intimacy can be. It wasn't unattractive; Matthews’ film is genuinely beautiful in its depiction of these men being intimate with each other. However, it becomes so focused on the individuals—two or three guys—that their facial expressions, laughter, and hesitant looks become far more compelling than the physical act itself. The anticipation leading up to the actual moment, those “will-he-won’t-he” instances, really create the tension in these scenes. One segment from Marco Berger and Marcelo Mónaco's Sexual Tension: Volatile demonstrates that perfectly. The anthology film, comprised of six sections alternately directed by Berger and Mónaco, outlines sex but never quite goes through with it. It’s a playful 85 minutes of suggestive build-up, and also quite entertaining. Each segment takes a potential male-on-male encounter as its starting point and progresses it to the brink of consummation before moving on. Berger, whose previous films Plan B and Ausente both heavily relied on sexual tension, gets the strongest piece, called "El Primo." Javier De Pietro, who starred in Ausente’s predatory role, appears as a young houseguest captivated by his friend's awkward cousin, who spends much of his time lounging around in his underwear—a situation that understandably stirs up our hero. Berger skillfully uses both his camera and his actors to capture a familiar scenario: the gradual descent from “how can I sneak a peek” through “how can I do more than just look” to “damn, I missed my chance.” It resonates so well because it taps into experiences many people have had. The same holds true for most of the other segments as well. There's always that sense of recognition involved, which elevates the experience. Another standout follows a young man at a tattoo parlor who becomes infatuated with the artist, who is completely unaware of his presence; from there it moves on to straight men offering each other advice on how to better please their girlfriends, giving sponge baths, hotel staff lacking boundaries and personal space, and personal trainers. Sexual Tension: Volatile is enjoyable. There's never a dull moment (thanks to the constant sexual tension) but after the initial two segments, the overall quality declines noticeably. Given the film’s Spanish title, Tensión sexual, Volumen 1: Volátil, it seems there’s more to come, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing it.

Source on TMDB