The Grotto

Actress Joanna Gleason, making her feature film writing and directing debut, hits pay dirt with "The Grotto." It's a simple premise about a complicated subject that is handled with the right touch of grit, gravity and gracefulness. It never stays into being cute and keeps its eye on the prize with firm insight and an excellent tech production. It's wonderfully acted by a cast of mainly theatre veterans, the look of the film is lovely and the story it tells is very specific and universal at the same time. Love is love is love and "The Grotto" is a perfect prescription for what ails us right now in an imperfect time.

What I love about this movie is how it uses a straight woman as an entry point to show how absolutely normal gay life is. The gay men in this movie fell in love and lost their partners to death, as did the straight woman. This film shows how healing from the loss of your husband, boyfriend, or fiance is the same no matter what your gender or sexual preference. It's just a normal story about losing your loved one and healing in community.

Also the music is great... You will discover and enjoy a lot of amazing musical performances you may not have know before. I hope they put out a soundtrack for this film!