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Weaving together three temporally disparate tales–‘Horror’ ‘Hero’ and ‘Homo’–Todd Haynes’ debut feature Poison asks us to consider when transgression becomes necessity.

Shot like a trashy ‘B’ movie, ‘Horror’ follows the transformation of a sex-crazed scientist; ‘Hero’ mimics the style of a sensationalist television investigation into the supernatural disappearance of seven-year-old Richie; and ‘Homo’ is a brooding gay romance set inside a prison. Obsessed by American culture and the cinema that came before him, Haynes reframes transgressive desire through three distinctive stories. Made in an era where gay men were defined by HIV/AIDS, ‘Horror’ reconfigures the straight man as the contaminated deviant. ‘Homo’ expands a legacy of homo-erotic avant-garde films like James Bidgood’s Pink Narcissus 1971 and Derek Jarman’s Sebastiane 1976. ‘Hero’ is indicative of an ongoing thread that runs through the 'In Queer Time' film program that explores complex relationships between queer people and their mothers; here nurturing is reproduced via a violent outrage against the family’s patriarch.

R18+ | Medium level sex scenes

R18+