Queers' Starry Untold Stories

The love that dare not speak its name finds voice multiple times in Queers, a new star-studded short-film series curated by Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss. Part of the BBC's Gay Britannia season marking the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalization of sex between men in the U.K., this collection of eight monologues begins with intimate tales from the early 20th century. The first features Ben Whishaw as a young WWI soldier who whispers to the camera all the stories he cannot share aloud. From there, Queers moves through decades, detailing historical markers without ever resorting to cliche. In Safest Spot in Town, Kadiff Kirwan plays a gay West Indies man who lands in London during the Blitz; in More Anger, Russell Tovey portrays an actor embroiled in the 1980s AIDS crisis. Throughout, its writers subvert expectations, shedding light on an era when entire lives were led in darkness while also reminding us how far we've come.