After last year’s tear-jerking Channel 4 miniseries It’s A Sin, it is refreshing to see a modern take on this frequent theme in gay cinema at a time when the disease is no longer a gruesome death sentence. Australian pop artist Troye Sivan stars in the lead role alongside the English actor Viveik Kalra known for the critically acclaimed 2019 movie Blinded By The Light, which pays tribute to the American rock legend, Bruce Springsteen. Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios, this comedy-drama has been available on the streaming service Paramount+ since last month.
The up-and-coming filmmaker Jared Frieder marked his ambitious directorial debut with Three Months. It took nearly a decade to bring this project to life. He explained his unquenchable motivation in an interview with The Queer Review:
Here’s how Three Months effectively brings a fresh perspective on HIV.
The Optimistic Storytelling We Deserve
MTV
The story focuses on a high school graduate Caleb (Troye Sivan), as he has to wait for three months to find out his HIV status after his last partner texted him to say he just tested positive. He attends a gay men’s support group, where he meets Estha (Viveik Kalra), who is going through the same thing. The two young men from different backgrounds become close as they spend the summer together, anxiously awaiting their results. Fearing that he may be diagnosed with what was once a deadly virus, Caleb learns that it’s not the end of the world, and with the proper treatment, he can still live a long and healthy life. All the while, he’s wondering whether his relationship with Estha will last or if it’s just a fleeting summer romance.
Based on the director’s own script, the film is set in suburban South Florida in 2011. The timing of its premiere couldn’t have been better, considering the state’s recent “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In light of this unfortunate situation for Florida’s queer youth, Frieder reflects on the ongoing LGBTQ+ rights battle in a KCRW podcast:
Three Months represents the positive outlook in gay cinema that we so desperately need at times like these. While it may not be a likely mainstream award contender for its lack of blood-boiling homophobic abuse and tragic deathbed moments, it shows us that, rather than being left to wallow in shame, queer characters deserve a happy ending too. As Sivan, currently cast in The Weeknd’s new HBO drama series The Idol, told Pride:
Cinema’s Past Portrayal of HIV
Indeed, a lot has changed since the 1985 premiere of the American drama Buddies and the Emmy-winning TV film An Early Frost, which are considered the first films to bring the theme of AIDS to a wider commercial audience. This was when newspapers still referred to it with the dehumanizing term “gay plague.” From independent titles such as The Living End, Zero Patience, and Holding The Man to big-screen hits like Philadelphia, Dallas Buyers Clubs, or Bohemian Rhapsody, filmmakers have successfully raised awareness of the epidemic and tackled all the misconceptions surrounding it. The contemporary queer shows Pose and It’s A Sin kept this important topic alive for the new generation with the utmost respect for the countless victims of the disease.
However, it wouldn’t hurt to appreciate that we’re living in a different age. More and more queer people are allowed access to PrEP, a preventative medication proven to protect against HIV in case of exposure. And even for the already diagnosed individuals, the future has never been brighter. There are lifesaving antiretroviral drugs available, which can decrease the viral load to the point of being undetectable and therefore untransmittable. HIV patients are no longer the ghastly, malnourished, bedridden people covered with lesions, as we know them from most films. As long as they receive the appropriate treatment, most are healthy and strong individuals who bear no signs of sickness. Three Months embraces this good news and hopefully inspires queer filmmakers to create more positive stories.
