Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival 2008

When beer-swilling, sports-playing Tyler Davidson (Derek James) invites his college buddy Chase (the sultry Canadian-born Charlie David) to spend the summer holidays with the picture-perfect Davidson family, things just don’t click between Chase and the hot local girls. Soon, Chase comes out, and Tyler unexpectedly has to cope with having a gay best friend. But while Tyler’s doing an admirable job of coming to terms with his own discomfort, a few more surprises begin to brew.

In a brilliantly turned subplot, Tyler’s mother Stacey (Thea Gill from "Queer as Folk") yanks Birdy – the family’s precocious eight-year-old – away from her carnal explorations with a local boy and also discovers her husband Nathan (Dan Payne) locking lips with someone else.

Set amid the casual, polite homophobia of the upper middle class, Mulligans is a fresh and multi-layered take on the coming-out genre. With grace and sensitivity, director Chip Hale shows that a confession of queerness doesn’t have to end relationships, even if it changes things forever.

- Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival

Director Chip Hale in attendance!

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