Pretty Boy 2015

Pretty Boy 2015
31min | Short , Drama | 4 February 2017 (USA)
Storyline:
'Pretty Boy' is a coming of age story of a young bullied teen, Sean, struggling with his sexuality and the hardships of high school. After his father finds some questionable magazines in his room, this devout Christian will go to any lengths to get his son to find the light and 'perform' the way a man should. Sean is introduced to Katie, a prostitute that understands the stigmas of modern society and helps him see the true light that is within him. 'Pretty Boy' is meant to inspire our youth to follow their hearts, to seek out their true family if '…the family they were born into isn't the family they're meant to be with.'
User review:
"Pretty Boy" is an American English-language short film from 2015. It runs for slightly over half an hour and received some more attention recently because the writer and director Cameron Thrower posted it on Youtube where it scored a solid amount of views already. Looking at the solid deal of awards recognition it received, it is probably his most known work. The cast does not really include any famous names. This is the story of a father who gifts his son a birthday present, namely a night with a prostitute to cure him from his homosexuality. If you say you heard that before, you are probably correct as this plot is exactly the same as in a Sara Gilbert ("Roseanne") short film from the new millennium, even if this one here is longer and the plot details also differ the longer the film goes. I think Rebekah Tripp gave a somewhat solid performance, but everybody else is forgettable, which is partially not only the actors' fault, but also the script's with the way the characters were written. With all the emotional impact this film is trying to make (unaccepted homosexuality, struggling father-son relationship, told to have sex with somebody he does not find remotely attractive, discrimination against prostitutes, dead mother, forbidden mother-son relationship), this is an ultimate tear-jerk movie, but you already realize by the sheer quantity of subjects, the ones I just listed, that it is absolutely impossible to deliver convincingly in terms of story-telling for a half-hour film. So yes, the film may seem touching and emotional, but only to the untrained eye. The trained eye will see a movie that is all just for the sake of it while never being a honorable achievement at all when it comes to realistic story-telling despite trying so hard to be relevant. This film is a failure and 4 stars out of 10 is still (maybe too much) on the generous side. I don't recommend checking it out.
Director: Cameron Thrower
Writer: Cameron Thrower
Stars: Nick Eversman, Rebekah Tripp, Jon Briddell