A wonderful picture to discuss gay men's sexuality, and the relations these gay men establish in order to practice their desire(s). The construction of the characters is very archetypical, which makes it very powerful, in my opinion. For those who are not aware: it contains tons of nudity and sex, so enjoy it if it pleases you. I have a theory about it, but it's better to watch it before reading.

As stated above, the movie screams naked dudes, sometimes having very explicit sex. But there is something very pleasing for me in this one, that we can put in comparison with that horrible American "Eating Out" series: Eating Out movies are presented as a small budget American-Pie-ish production, cringy AF, with actors that seem to have a very promising acting talent for PornHub. While in these American films we feel uncomfortable for being showed some soft porn out of nowhere, with no other reason than just showing it, the French production creates a whole setting and makes the (way more explicit) nudity and sex meaningful, beautiful, and naturalistic. It is what it is, they show you because it is important for creating the atmosphere and he characters' motivations. And I believe it is like that because it is mature, it shows naked men with a purpose! The characters are not objectified by the production, but by themselves. They are protagonists of their own objectification, subjects to a social construction of promiscuity, and that is one of the discussions with more potential for me.

By the end, after going through a variety of sensations and impressions, I was very intrigued and excited to talk about it. Then, I come here and check that most people in the comments were not as excited as I was.... For me, the movie is powerful, but I think I understand why some people do not get it. You see, there is something very poetic and subjective about it. I see it as powerful because I, myself, have already spent many many hours of my life in "dating" apps such as Grindr, Hornet, Scruff, etc. In my point of view, "L'Inconnu du Lac" aims to portray (with no shame) the promiscuity that was originated in the cisgendered gay scene. All of its characters are very archetypical, thus easily recognised by the people who already know them from real life via dating apps or casual-sex-spots such as saunas. There is something very predatorial about these environments, they are very welcoming to the exercise of toxic masculinity, falocentrism, sex obsession, misogyny between queer people, and a kind of dehumanization. People do not want to know your name, your story, your problems, the things that make you happy, they do not even care if you are dead by the next day, as long as they can take an orgasm from your (preferably toned) body.

[spoiler] The most intriguing character in the picture, for me, is the protagonist. Frank is a young white gay man, he is 100% in the beauty pattern, he exudes masculinity, he is desired by others, he desires other like him (young white gay men in the beauty pattern who do not look feminine at all), and - most importantly - he is a single guy who is trying to find love in a place very hostile for affection.That is a very successful picture of the gay dilemma. And then, he starts interacting with the two extremes of his desire: Henri, who supplies affection and intimacy, and Michel, who represents his maximum lust. I was not convinced yet that I wanted to watch it, until the moment he witnesses Michel murdering his previous partner. That moment was such a turning point for me, because I was not expecting it! And then, it got better, because I caught myself screaming "ARE YOU DUMB GURL?!" at Frank, I could not believe he was letting himself fall for this man who would CLEARLY kill him eventually. [/spoiler]

[spoiler] And here, my friends, resides the geniality of it all: Frank is US, everytime we let ourselves go to that place of gay sex obsession. How many times in my life, have I felt such loneliness that I let a stranger in my house, barely knowing his name, just to feel something. Or worse, I even went to HIS house, throwing myself at a higher risk (at least I would send the location to my friends and ask them to call me eventually LOL). I will not lie, at first I was not pleased by Henri, but Michel got my hormones screaming from the beginning until the end, so I can not actually judge Frank. Have I not been Frank before? You know, that is the key, sometimes we feel so little of ourselves that we do not value our lives, as long as we can feel something as close as possible to love and intimacy. More than that, we receive so many narratives of happiness coming from beauty pattens in industry, that we believe that it is more possible to receive love from a killer muscle stud who refuses intimacy than it is possible to receive love from a guy interested in friendship, who tells more of his backstory and problems in his first lines than all the others do in the whole screening time. [/spoiler]

I could be here talking about it for longer and longer, but then no one would read it, so these are my impressions for now! :laughing: Thanks for reading and, if you have not watched it yet, do it, so we can chat about these and other topics.

A skillful Hitchcockian thriller weakened by a slack tempo--which does, to approach from another perspective, give one ample opportunity to admire the gorgeous cinematography and sound--and some unnecessarily/distractingly explicit sex. An ending would have been nice.

A rather well shot, but pedestrian affair about good-looking young man "Franck" who frequents a gay cruising area on a lake shore and falls for a stranger. Around the same time, an ex-lover of the stranger is found drowned. What makes this film interesting is that both we, and him, know what happened and yet he decidedly refuses to co-operate with the police and puts himself and others at considerable risk. Is it infatuation or indifference or both? This is an oddly arid piece of cinema. At best it shows this cruising community as indifferent to the crime; and worst to a callousness that is quite shudderingly numb and unbelievably inhuman.