Keep the Lights On
US Indies • 1h 42m
Directed by Ira Sachs • Drama • With Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth; Julianne Nicholson • 2012 • 106 minutes
Keep the Lights On chronicles an emotionally and sexually charged journey of two men in New York City through love, friendship, and addiction. Documentary filmmaker Erik (Thure Lindhardt) and closeted lawyer Paul (Zachary Booth, Damages) meet through a casual encounter, but soon find a deeper connection and become a couple. Individually and together, they are risk takers—compulsive, and fueled by drugs and sex. In an almost decade-long relationship defined by highs, lows, and dysfunctional patterns, Erik struggles to negotiate his own boundaries and dignity while being true to himself. Director Ira Sachs’s fearlessly personal screenplay is anchored by Lindhardt, who embodies Erik’s isolation and vulnerability with a gentle presence. Harrowing and romantic, visceral and layered, Keep the Lights On is a film that looks at love and all of its manifestations, taking it to dark depths and bringing it back to a place of grace.
“Stunning! Moving and totally engrossing.” —Indiewire
Up Next in US Indies
-
Funny Ha Ha
Directed by Andrew Buljalski • Drama • With Kate Dollenmayer, Christian Rudder, Mark Herlehy • 2002 • 83 minutes
Marnie is 23, and drifts through "Funny Ha Ha," Andrew Bujalski's critically acclaimed debut feature, in search of romance and employment. The film's conversations sound improvised an...
-
Dance Party USA
Directed by Aaron Katz • Drama • With Cole Pensinger, Anna Kavan, Brendan McFadden • 2006 • 66 minutes
Apathetic seventeen-year-old Gus hangs around doing nothing with his buddy Bill most of the time. Gus likes to tell half-true stories about all the girls he’s slept with and all the drugs he’s ...
-
Ham on Rye
Directed by Tyler Taormina • Drama • With Haley Bodell, Audrey Boos, Danny Tamberelli • 2020 • 85 minutes
Ham on Rye, a coming-of-age comedy centered on the nervous excitement of youth and the strange horror of entering adulthood uses an expansive ensemble of over one hundred performers, includi...
