This Short Film Exposes the Sh*t Gays Have to Deal With for Love

When it comes to dating and romance, you've got to be prepared for the craziest shit to happen (literally). 

That's the lesson one gay man named Taylor (played by actor Ben Baur) learns in the latest short comedy film from writer and director Gary Jaffe. While preparing to go all the way on the third date with his special guy, Taylor (a gay perfectionist) goes through all of the typical preparations bottoms are conditioned to go through right before they do the deed. That includes starving himself (despite watching his friends eat delicious food right in front of him) and spending countless hours in the shower douching and getting clean. Even when his besties tell him that "shit happens" and that he doesn't have to be so obsessive, he can't help himself from overthinking things and wanting to make the night with his beau Chris (Daniel K. Isaac) absolutely flawless.

Unfortunately, like most things in life that you tend to overplan, things don't go quite as expected, and Taylor ends up having an um...explosive accident. As hilariously gross as the incident is, Chris ends up comforting Taylor in a touching way that we didn't see coming — and that was actually really sweet to see. 

"In all my work, I’m looking to foster a more nuanced self-acceptance in the queer community and beyond," Jaffe said about his short, which garnered of praise and accolades during its festival run. "In Next Level Shit, a "perfect" gay (played to literal perfection by the Ben Baur) comes face to face with the demons hidden in his own neurotic pursuit of gay perfection. There’s a quiet, tender look Chris (played with warmth and hunkiness by Daniel K. Isaac) gives Taylor in the final moments of the movie which contains so much of the affirmation he needs to accept himself for everything his body is. I hope that, by making that self-acceptance real in fiction, I can help make it real for all of us."

Stream Next Level Shit on YouTube now!