Play the Devil

Good acting minus the older guy. Loved the grandmother and best friend devins acting. Petrice who plays Greg is a rising star. The stereotype of homosexuality being something you are recruited into is sadly worked into the plot and the light skin son being the good smart one and the dark son being the wayward bad one is also a part of the plot and these things show that this film was done by a white and I imagine straight woman thus the lack of authenticity. A good film but these stereotypes bring it down

I guess that the plot is known to the reader, in short young, pure, but gifted guy from the rural farming village in Trinidad, meet mid age wealthy businessman. The relationship that leads to seduction, tangled with many other problems in the pure guys life that seems quite OK, until the start of the movie.

Movie from Trinidad and Tobago must gain your sympathy at first, and of course you wouldn't expect a masterpiece. But, there are just to many but... The plot: Weak, predictable, with many detours from the main topic, and completely irrelevant jumps aside. Scenes are leaning one upon another, usually just to fill the time, many times completely pointless. Camera and directing are very basic, and few times I caught myself I felt uncomfortable watching unpleasant cadres. And finally - acting: below any reasonable expectation, on a very, very amateur level. Especially Gareth Jenkins, the man who is playing the wealthy businessman - just terrible.

So the score 2, just because of the sympathy for a young cinematography from Trinidad, and quite nice carnival scene.

Director Maria Govan's intriguing character study will not be acceptable to those viewers who want someone else (director, actor) to telegraph who's the bad guy. The film is Play the Devil. Govan is playing Devil's Advocate.

You have to think when you watch this movie, and you may not be happy with your decisions. What seems on the surface to be one of those May-December gay romance stories, set in the poverty-stricken island of Trinidad, turns into Billy Budd.

Beautiful and naïve, young Gregory (Petrice Jones) is the promise of his family. Approached by an older (but not old) businessman (Gareth Jenkins) with plenty of money, he finds himself flattered by the attention-at first.

Here is a chance to escape poverty, receive an education, and live in indolent luxury. It is tempting, but the young man has second thoughts-and needs space. Perhaps he is not gay after all. However, his obsessed older fan won't take no for an answer and begins insinuating himself into all aspects of Greg's life.

Feeling more and more trapped and cornered, Greg sees how such a relationship will ease the burdens of his family and open up a new world for him. Yet, his stalker knows better-and insists that the young man is merely fighting his nature when he should give in to it. It's enhanced by two remarkable performances by the leads.

You know this is heading in a negative direction, but perhaps you will not see how it must conclude.

Set against the Carnival of Trinidad where young men paint themselves in blue and act the role of devils, chaotically racing through the streets, you have a clear case of possession. You may not have just another gay movie here.

Director Govan is not making this easier with her parallels to Billy Budd, and her film becomes an un-gay parable.

First things first, it is amazing to see a movie set in Trinidad and to get to see and hear the sights and sounds of that place. It's a beautiful place with a lot of culture. In that sense, this movie does a lot for the country. It does very little, however, for its protagonists, who are up against cruel fate and decidedly lose, and for real people in those very same situations. When life gives you lemons, you shouldn't get more of them from a movie.

If I were a gay kid from the Caribbean who finally got to see my world on the big screen, I would be very saddened by what I see. The only movie about me tells me that my life is tragedy and will end in tragedy. That makes this movie cruel and sadistic. The lived experience of people in homophobic cultures is hard enough without having it reflected back on 100-foot screens. This movie should have been about the hope for something better than can, and does, happen for people, even in places like Trinidad.

So when is it okay to show the bad, not just the hopeful good, of being gay in homophobic worlds? The simple answer is when there is no more homophobia. The longer answer is when there is enough representation in film to offer variety. If I were a young girl from a culture that demands my pre-arranged marriage at 12 years old, and I don't want that for myself, I wouldn't want the only movie I get to see about myself being about a young girl who gets married off, raped and then murdered by the end.

The two characters in this movie, James and Greg, are not free to make decisions - everything about their relationship seems pre-destined and nothing can change. There is very little discussion between the two, nor is there evidence of reflection. The two just move haplessly forward to the bitter conclusion. This movie is not fair to them, and it's not fair to those sitting in seats hoping to see something more inspirational than the cruel realities many still find themselves in.

This is seriously one of the most captivating and visually spectacular films of the last decade. It accurately shows a "slice of life" in a tropical island paradise between the "haves and have-nots" in Trinidad and Tobago. The character studies of Greg and his home life are not only astounding, but draw the viewer into a world that few people off the island see. We not only empathize with Greg's' plight, but understand how he was so easily taken with a sympathetic "father figure", who turns out to be more of a fatal attraction. The emotions and reactions this film evokes are visceral; you can sense the despair in Greg as he seems to sink deeper and deeper. I am honestly far from a prude, but I had to stop watching/look away through most of the sex scene (and it was relatively tame) just because I really felt the mercenarial tone going on there. And this becomes more and more evident as the film progresses when we see Greg's ability to control his life is slowly being taken away. In fact, while many of the reviews here are saying "homophobia!", I think they are totally missing the point: this was NOT about a boy coming to grips with being homosexual; it was about his CHOICES (i.e. to come out as gay) being taken from him and being controlled by someone more powerful; all the clues were there. The character of Greg's friend, "Devin" is masterful, representing the comfortable and predictable stability in his life, a "constant"...even an unwelcome one. Devin delivers some of the most masterful lines of the film which in fact underscore a deeper wisdom of Greg's situation ("opportunity...now that's real freedom" or referring to James as Greg's "sugar daddy" in jest...but not really). I would have liked to see a version twice as long, or even a mini-series since there were just too many interesting characters, questions and situations that still could have been explored. All in all, this is a cinematic master-piece...what more should be said?