PROVOKR PICK: ALMOST LOVE

BY: Amanda Jane Stern

Theaters may no longer be open due to the current pandemic, but new movies are still coming out, which means we can continue to bring you our PROVOKR Pick. This week, we’d like to highlight the upcoming rom-com Almost Love.

Written and directed by veteran actor Mike Doyle (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Gayby), the film follows four couples all at a crossroads in their relationships. The first and primary relationship is between Adam (Scott Evans), who ghost paints for the successful artist Ravella (Patricia Clarkson), and his boyfriend Marklin (Augustus Prew). They have just hit the five-year point and are beginning to wonder if this is it. To make matters worse, Marklin is a successful influencer and regularly documents the couple’s daily activities for his followers.

They are not the only pair questioning the future of their relationship, but their friends are as well. Adam’s best friend, Elizabeth (Kate Walsh,) is getting ready to leave her husband after 15 years of marriage when she discovers his inappropriate text messages with a younger woman. Then there is Cammy (Michelle Buteau), whose relationship with Henry (Colin Donnell) seems to revolve solely around staying at home, specifically her home. And finally, there’s Haley (Zoe Chao), who finds herself falling for the younger Scott James (Christopher Gray)

The film premiered at the Frameline Film Festival in June 2019 and was acquired for distribution by Vertical Entertainment. It was scheduled to be theatrically released on April 3, 2020, but due to the coronavirus, all theaters have been closed until further notice. Despite that, Vertical decided to go ahead with the release of the film and it will hit VOD, anyone with cable can access it from the comfort of their own homes.

See Almost Love, on VOD, starting April 3, 2020.