Brace

Slicker than your average short, Brace's depiction of a small corner of London's LGBT scene manages to combine humour, pathos and an unflinching look at the violence and prejudiced still faced by many communities.

Telling the story of scene newcomer Adam's encounter and nascent relationship with Rocky, Brace crams a lot of thoughtful material into its 30 minute runtime. Dealing with acceptance, rejection, prejudice and deception, the short depicts the complex world of queer identity with a sure-footed skill which belies the writer's relative inexperience; produced with cinematography far better than what one would ordinarily expect from a similar-budgeted production, Brace is a hard-hitting piece of cinema which punches well above its weight.