Children of God (2010)

The gorgeous beaches and towns of the Bahamas are the setting for Children of God, a strong and tender romantic drama from first-time filmmaker Kareem Mortimer. Percolating under the hot sun and sand are religious intolerance, political grand-standing, family woes and hopefully enough love to conquer them all.

Johnny (Johnny Ferro) is an art student in Nassau whose technique is perfect, but he’s creatively blocked. His teacher sends him off to the rural island of Eleuthera where he meets Romeo (Stephen Tyrone Williams), a hot musician. They begin a clumsy dance of attraction and romance. Romeo has a fiancé and is identified as straight, but he’s been known to play with the boys on the side secretly. The Bahamas are bound by religious traditions that discourage homosexuality and end up forcing gay men into the closet. Lena is a pastor’s wife. Her husband demonizes homosexuality to further his career, yet he’s on the DL as well. When Lena discovers that her husband has infected her with VD, he accuses her of infidelities. These characters are all bound together in this intense drama of love, family and secrets.

Beautifully paced and with three separate story-lines that merge at the film’s climax, the filmmaker really has done a great job with his small budget. Children of God has won several festival awards and been opening and closing night at many others, for good reason – it’s a wonderful film. With extraordinary cinematography (on a low budget), a vacation worthy setting, naturalistic actors and a mythic story Children of God is a superb tale of “a pair of star-cross’d lovers.”