Film

Fifteen-year-old Neil is both a shy, questioning high-school freshman and a burgeoning author of slash fiction—steamy stories written with a homoerotic bent about iconic characters in fantasy and sci-fi pop culture. When his writing is involuntarily shared at school, Neil is ostracized by everyone in the community save uninhibited classmate Julia. A fellow erotic writer, Julia encourages him to share his prose about Vanguard, the hyper-masculine hero of a major sci-fi franchise who, with Neil’s help, has explosive pansexual encounters across the galaxy. Clay Liford’s (My Mom Smokes Weed, BAMcinemaFest, 2010; Wuss; Earthling) compassionate exploration of adolescence, fandom, and sexuality finds its heroes discovering the courage it takes to be their most authentic selves.