Not That Kind of Guy (2020)

55% User Rating

26min

Léto, a young trans and gay man, lives in a small, social housing apartment near Tours. During the day, he kills boredom on his phone from the ticket booth of a movie theater on its last legs. But where he's looking for feelings, he's only offered sex. So at night, he flees disillusionment by heading for the stars. The roof of his high-rise building is like his moped: a refuge, an escape. However, one morning, the parking lot of an ice rink becomes the setting for a life-changing encounter when he comes face to face with Hamza, a solitary employee with an enigmatic charm. The emotional disturbance is immediate. With all due respect to the scoundrels!

Sarah Al AtassiDirector

Cast

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Sohan Pague

Léto

Issa Al Issa

Hamza

Tibo Drouet

Jordan

Philippe Bilheur

Raphaël Thiéry

Clementine Sergent

Clarisse

Lahcen Elmazouzi

Leyhan Hoinard

Théophile Dubus

Anthony Da Silva

Nicolas Ali Larbi

Sébastien Ali Larbi

Sarah Al Atassi

Maël Dutheil

Simon Frenay

Reviews (1)

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CinemaSerf

Rating 60%

August 10, 2023

This packs quite a lot into twenty-five minutes. "Léto" (Sohan Pague) is an ostensibly gay lad living in a fairly rough French housing estate. He hooks up, in the dark, now and again and is bullied pretty relentlessly by the homophobic thugs who live nearby. He has another secret though - that's one we gradually assume rather than are told about - and that's where this rather falls down. You have to watch for yourself to see what I mean, but the rest of the film really would have benefitted from a clearer statement of identity so we could better understand just how "Léto" was coming to terms with his complicated sexuality. The photography has an intensity to it that could be intrusive, but isn't - it's quite engaging as we share a lifestyle that is futile and unrewarding until, well, "Hamza" (Issa Al Issa) appears working at the car park by the local ice rink, and things take what might just be a turn for the better. Pague is quite effective here, and as we fill in the gaps ourselves, the story starts to pan out nicely and offering us a "work in progress" ending. Certainly worth a watch.