- Directed by Colby Holt, Sam Probst
- Written by Colby Holt
- Stars Jordan Dow, Pablo Castelblanco, Joe Chrest, Robyn Lively
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnnOM0BWGok
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This was very low-key on the horror, without even a hint of it until quite a way into the movie. But it’s very well made, and does have some horror and disturbing elements. We’d both give it a thumbs up.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open in 1989. A man walks to the end of the dock carrying cinder blocks, ready to jump in. In the present day, a jogger stops and jumps into a pond with a fountain. He sees something scary under the water. Credits roll.
In the morning, the young jogger wakes up next to the fountain. He goes home and has breakfast with his parents. He’s Lee Fletcher, and his parents make him stop and pray before breakfast. Sarah Beth helps around the house, and the mother, Floy, is clearly jealous of the younger woman. Both parents seem particularly strict. Lee is on the wrestling team at school.
Kyle, the obviously-gay kid in school, tells Bree, a girlfriend, that he thinks Lee “has sad eyes.” She says Lee won’t party with them, as he’s got nothing in his life but wrestling and church. He hears that Lee has signed up for the community trash-cleaning group (his dad makes him do it), so he signs up as well to meet Lee.
Lee and Kyle talk as they pick up trash about what they have in common. They’re getting along fine until a couple of homophobes from school drive up to call Kyle names; Lee punches Justin the loudmouth. Afterward, Kyle apologizes for being there. Lee is confused as he jogs home. When his parents hear that he spent the afternoon with Kyle, Floy gets upset. “You show that boy kindness, and he will twist it.” Kyle tells his mother the story, and she’s not so negative about it, but his father is the county commissioner.
We cut to Lee’s family’s church, and they’re a bit extreme. Lee daydreams about what he saw under the water in the pond. Pastor Royer goes on and on about genders and all things that are ruining today’s youth; Lee hallucinates ripping the skin off his arm. When he goes home, Lee sees someone in his closet, but when he looks, there’s no one there.
Kyle tells Bree that he’s sure that Justin is secretly gay himself. He’s not sure if Lee realizes that he is as well. Kyle’s gaydar is working overtime, and Bree is skeptical. As Lee’s mother rants about “what Kyle is,” Lee sees a monster crawling around behind her. Lee goes to his room and chants “I am a straight heterosexual” over and over to himself. Later, he hallucinates blood in the sink.
Lee looks up “Psychosis” in the library the next day, but he can’t get through it because Bree keeps flirting with him; it’s a “test” to see if he’s gay. She reports to Kyle later, but he’s not appreciative. Ms. Kimpton at school suspects that there’s something going on between Kyle and Lee. She tells Kyle to be very careful with that.
Lee plays an old audio tape left by his uncle Neal, who was also openly gay. That was who committed suicide in the pre-credit sequence. The tape is hidden in his parents’ bedroom, and he’s not supposed to know about it.
Lee’s father has all the church and political people over for dinner, but Kyle shows up outside Lee’s window. Lee meets him at the back door and lets him inside. Lee admits that he’s been “having reprobate thoughts” about Kyle. Lee clearly knows he has a crush on Kyle, and he says as much. They start kissing, and Lee imagines Kyle turning into a monster and starts screaming which brings his parents into the room. That goes badly.
Pastor Royer has words for Lee after the party. Royer says that a “Ganymede is an unrepentant homosexual. They’re demonic disturbances.” His father asks if that can be inherited, and his mother gets really upset. Floy’s brother killed himself in that pond, and she says “We can fix this. It’s not real. No one can find out.” She doesn’t want all that to start again. She gets so hysterical that even Lee’s father wants to end the conversation. Royer says God won’t let Lee live long like this.
Royer wants to “help” Lee with his affliction, and admits that he, himself, recovered from the disease. Royer says homosexuals aren’t real demons and Ganymedes put those thoughts into peoples’ heads. Royer then tells Lee his own story and then suggests shock therapy. The pastor just happens to have an antique shock therapy machine at home, which he uses, along with prayer, ono Lee.
The next day at school, Lee is like a zombie, but he’s still thinking about Kyle. It’s all very nice until someone attacks him in his daydream. He talks to the guidance counselor, and it’s all very awkward.
At the wrestling match, Kyle comes to watch, as he’s waiting for Lee to come to his senses. Lee sees his opponent as a real demon and starts screaming again in front of everyone. Later, Lee’s father breaks down and cries; he blames his wife. “We had a deformed child!”
Lee, however, continues to fantasize and dream about Kyle as the demons sneak into his room and cause trouble. In the middle of the night, he goes to the restrooms where he heard the gay people hang out. Justin, the guy he punched in the nose, is there and kisses him before getting punched again. The next morning, he goes back for more shock treatments, much more excessive this time, and he goes into convulsions.
Kyle and Justin talk the next day, and Justin is less interested in hiding things. Lee’s parents argue about Floys photos and tapes of her dead brother. He wants that stuff out of the house. She sees rotting Neal there, and they have a talk about his death and whether or not Lee can change. She soon catches her husband banging the maid.
It’s Kyle’s musical number in the school auditorium, and his mother is in the audience. He plays the xylophone and keyboard mixed with computer sound effects. Lee watches from the door and listens to his inner demons. He ends up screaming again.
The two guys argue about who they both really are. “You’re going to do this to me; you’re a Ganymede, an unrepentant homosexual.” Kyle’s never heard the term before, but he doesn’t argue. Lee runs away and Kyle chases him.
Lee’s mother, upset about her husband, picks up a big knife and goes for a walk.
Lee goes to the church, alone, and puts on the shock treatment headset. Kyle breaks in, but the convulsions won’t stop, so he calls his mother for help. Lee fights his demon and realizes that the demon is himself. Pastor Royer comes in and beats up Kyle until Lee’s mother stabs him in the back. Both mothers take care of their boys until the police and ambulance arrive.
Lee’s mother apologizes to Kyle’s mother, and they all go to the hospital. When Lee’s father arrives, he sees the situation and just leaves.
We fast forward a while, and everything is different now, mostly happy for everyone.
Brian’s Commentary
I’ve never heard the term “Ganymede” used like this before, but it’s an important plot point here.
The story is common enough; a romance between an openly gay kid and a strictly raised Christian fundamentalist. The conflict is built right in. This one, however, portrays Lee’s internal emotional conflict with real monsters. It’s all metaphorical until it isn’t.
The performances and cinematography are all excellent; everyone does a good job here. It is very low on the “horror” scale, unless you’re a closeted gay teenager. It’s more disturbing than horrific, especially since it’s all so believable and realistic– and common.
Kevin’s Commentary
Who knew that Ganymede was more than just one of the moons of Jupiter?
The basic story didn’t seem like much that I haven’t seen before, but the inclusion of some monsters around the edges made it interesting. All the aspects from performance to direction were really well done.
It’s very low key on horror, heavy on drama tension, and unfortunately realistic in a lot of places.