Documentary filmmaker Erik and closeted lawyer Paul meet through a casual encounter, but they find a deeper connection and become a couple. Individually and together, they are risk takers — compulsive, and fueled by drugs and sex. In an almost decade-long relationship defined by highs, lows, and dysfunctional patterns, Erik struggles to negotiate his own boundaries and dignity and to be true to himself.
Thure Lindhardt Zachary Booth Julianne Nicholson Souléymane Sy Savané Justin Reinsilber Ed Vassallo Paprika Steen Marilyn Neimark Sebastian La Cause Sarah Hess Roberta Kirshbaum Jamie Petrone Maria Dizzia Stella Schnabel Jodie Markell James Bidgood John Michael Cox Jr. Henry Arango Agosto Machado Miguel Flatow Calder Kusmierski Singer Shane Stackpole Christopher Lenk Todd Verow
为你流的泪, Laisse la lumière, Deixa as Luzes Acesas, Deixe a Luz Acesa, Не гаси светлината, Ostavi upaljena svjetla, Κράτα ένα φως αναμμένο, Zostań ze mną, Остави упаљена светла, Işıkları Açık Bırak, Ánh đèn thắp sáng, 点亮灯光, Не выключай свет, Keep The Lights On, Поддържай светлините, 라잇 온 미, 為你流的淚
USA
Sundance Film Festival
Germany
Berlin International Film Festival
USA
Tribeca Film Festival
USA
Seattle International Film Festival
USA
Outfest Film Festival
USANR
Taiwan
France
Poland
UK18
Germany
France
Germany
Poland
Taiwan
UK
USA
your gay lawyer shows up to court with a tote bag, are you winning the case?
they say love is more than just commitment. but at the end of the day, when the only person who made you feel loved—in a world that has desperately deprived it from you—leaves the door, isn't it the only thing that matters?
Based on an autobiographical story and inspired by films such as Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right, Bill Sherwood's Goodbye Glances, and Jacques Nolot's Before I Forget, Keep The Lights On takes us deep into the emotional journey of two men's decade-long relationship, showing love in all its manifestations.
The story of an impossible couple relationship, prolonged for years, that of the film director Erik Rothman and the lawyer of a publishing house Paul Lucy, in which Paul, traumatized since he was young by that famous family and social environment, which always showed and presented him as something abject and intolerable, at least, problematic, the love between two people of the same sex, Paul will take to its maximum…
Paul spent too much money on drugs that he used the same tote bag for years.
gay filmmakers with their little tote bags is something so universal (im a gay filmmaker with a tote bag)
oh my god ira sachs. happy pride month.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
90’s Grindr did exists.
A very emotional journey but not a very enjoyable one, the first act of this film builds up a loving and cute relationship between these two characters getting you invested in this romantic tale of meeting your Romeo and then the rest of the film is just a lot of messy time jumps through a ten year relationship mostly just focusing on all the negative elements, the fights, the drug abuse and the adultery and its just so emotionally draining without any breaks by the end it’s a relief to see them break up all ready. This movie is just really depressing without any fun or lighthearted moments and it’s just not a very enjoyable time.
Relatively beautiful, yet nauseatingly long and pointless. That about sums it up.
you're GAY
^my ranked list about films centered around gay male protagonists
Feels like it's channeling Rainer Werner Fassbinder in tone, style and themes, if only reaching for something more optimistic, and that is perhaps why I got immediately sucked in. It looks incredible, love how the colors and lighting really are part to the story. And the performances, but especially Thure Lindhardt who with every expression and delivery reveals the incredible depth of his character, make us fall for the characters and invest in them through the many ups and downs.
Still not a fan of how Paul’s arc is handled. Actually, the overall presentation of drugs was a bit puzzling, even if we are able to understand where they are coming from. Nevertheless, it’s hard to shake off the feeling that Keep the Lights On wouldn’t be as good if its perspective wasn’t still a rarity among contemporary gay narratives. The fact that Ira Sachs (and often collaborator Mauricio Zacharias) makes movies about queer men that have complicated relationships and other concerns beyond their sexuality, it’s refreshing. Some good writing on the dirty talk front.
“You know, I got a degree in English. I’m not some stupid faggot”
Will you get tired of loving someone? How far can you go? These and other searing questions bubble in Ira Sachs’ intimate, naturalistic love story about a Danish filmmaker and his boyfriend whose demons test their patience, and love for one another. The result is an embarrassingly passionate, melancholic, universal story about love and relationships.
The film covers the 9-year turbulent relationship of Erik, a Danish documentary filmmaker and Paul, a lawyer who has some serious drug issues who both met through phone sex hookups. The rest of the story follows these two as they go through rollercoaster of events that will test their commitment and love for one another. Sachs’ impresses with his command of extreme sensitivity and intimacy…
knitting in the dark watching their relationship fall apart ❤️❤️
If it weren’t for the repetitive middle section of this film I probably would have liked it slightly more.
