12 Gays of Christmas

A Single Man

Not to use a boring, tired, gay-related cliché, but this movie is like a shiny, beautiful unicorn. In a big, boring sea filled with Iron Man and Superman and Spiderman and Batman, A Single Man is truly the hero we deserved AND the hero we needed. Tom Ford’s debut film (and his ONLY film until Nocturnal Animals debuted earlier this year) is a gorgeous exploration of love, loss, grief, happiness, friendship, regret, and sorta just straight-up life.

We follow George, who recently lost his younger lover, through a day in his interaction-filled yet still painfully lonely existence. Alternating between flashbacks of happier and lovelier times of his life with his partner and the reality of his bleak present, we get to know George in what may be his last day on Earth — oh yeah, did I mention that he has plans to kill himself at day’s end?

Setting up a story in which our hero will meet his demise quite soon seems like it would render all of his actions and feelings and thoughts — and, by extension, ours — throughout the remainder of the film moot. But it does just the opposite. George cherishes each interaction. As do we. We look for the meaning in it, we find beauty where we might have otherwise ignored it, and we realize that his life (AND OURS!!!!!), no matter how simple, is worth living.

The film will inspire you, the end will haunt you and the sheer beauty of this movie will stick with you long after the holiday décor at the mall is ripped down.