This excellent, hard to find 2005 short film, “On The Low”, written and directed by Luther M. Mace stars Tommy Ford (TV Series Martin) and critically acclaimed filmmaker Deondray Gossett. For those not familiar with the name, Gossett is one of the duo of filmmakers that created The D.L. Chronicles film series from the late aughts.
Synopsis:
“On The Low,” a short film, explores the emotional consequences of a hush-hush intimate relationship between two African-American high school boys. It tells the story of a young man, Ty Evans, coming to terms with his sexuality and the inner conflict he experiences. The true extent of Ty’s relationship with his classmate, Kevin Banks, begins to trouble him when the boys get into a schoolyard shoving match. As the tension between them escalates, Ty realizes what began as innocent curiosity and experimentation has blossomed into something deeper.
This is a very great cautionary tale to anyone comfortable with their sexuality who is considering dating a “down low” man. You’ll end up wasting a lot of time and emotional heartache, just as the main character does in this film.
I especially loved the final two scenes in the film. I have to believe that the filmmaker was being symbolic with the final scene. Without giving spoiling the ending too much, the ending channels an iconic verse from rapper Gucci Mane in Mario’s song Break Up: “[Men] are like buses, miss one, next fifteen, one comin’.”
The film does look a bit dated and the narrative doesn’t exactly flow cohesively but I was impressed by everything else given this was clearly made on a limited budget. This really goes to show you that if you have an engaging story, characters and decent acting, a film can be more entertaining than one with better visuals and production value. It’s unfortunate that the director Luther M. Mace hasn’t produced much more gay content since then (according to his IMDB page).
Not many people knew that Deondray Gossett started out his film career as an actor. Something struck me as I watched the film: Deondray was a pretty decent actor. Much better than many of the young gay actors we see in the current web series and short films today. You can clearly see that this film was at least partially an inspiration for him to create The D.L. Chronicles with his future partner Quincy LeNear.
Check out Luther M. Mace’s short film “On The Low” and let us know what you think!
As soon as it gets interesting it ends. Damn. I enjoyed this short movie – acting B+ , script B- , casting B+ , set C, audio B, messzage B , editing C, overall impression B+. My only complaint its its too short. Howevver On the Low is much better than the entire series of Freefall. Deserves a continuation and development into a serious web series. Bravo. .
I feel like the DL Chronicles is a continuation of this short film.
I actually saw this series on another black, gay blog and it was pretty good. The way that dude did Deondray’s character was so wrong but if you mess with a down-low man then that is what you will get.
I don’t agree with you here: “This is a very great cautionary tale to anyone comfortable with their sexuality who is considering dating a “down low” man. You’ll end up wasting a lot of time and emotional heartache, just as the main character does in this film.” That sometimes happens but sometimes the DL man in a meaningful relationship will see that as the push/incentive to “come-out” or be more open about his sexuality.
In fact, a friend of mine was very DL. He moved in with a guy, they fell in love and came out to his family. That he came out at about the age of 50 was a surprise to me. This is a testament to the power of love.
“On The Low” is/was a good short film, I agree it better acted and story then so many of the web series that are out there right now. Thanks for posting this movie Nick, I forgot that people could make good stories about black gay men online with very little money.
I agree with you that it’s “too bad” that series wasn’t continued given the quality of this episode. It portended great potential….
I remember watching this film not too long ago. The sound quality of the film was slightly annoying as it was difficult sometimes to understand what they were saying. But I love the storyline, I definitely can relate to the struggle. I think they did good job depicting the situation that some guys find themselves in when they date or hook up with DL guys. As I was watching the film I started thinking back to the times when I was hung up on DL guys during college and afterwards. It took me a while to learn that those guys are not worth it no matter how masculine or attractive they are.
let me check this out.
I liked this! Really nice how he met a new guy at the end. Makes you want more of the story.
I admire what Deondray and his partner have done with film. No fear. Just doing stories that are real to them. If y’all don’t know, both of them met on the DL in real life when they were both dating girls. So like the dude above said, DL dudes can come out sometimes. It does happens. It’s a risk emotionally though.
Well at least it’s something. I’d really like to start seeing more black stuff free of:
-Anything “DL”
-Casts full of super femmy types
-Storylines idealizing gay white men.
Until then, this short was kinda interesting. Though I find the “beware of DL guys” thing a little judgmental and melodramatic. I’ve dated a few that weren’t a waste of time and dated some out guys that definitely were! lol Like another comment said, the director met his guy while they were “DL”, and now they’re married.
GREAT SHORT FILM. IT DOES DEPICT WHAT SOME OF US WENT & GO THRU GROWING UP. A FUNNY THING IS > THE MOMENT ONE OF THOSE SUPPOSELY STRAIGHT DUDES DECIDE TO SNEAK AROUND WITH A GAY DUDE , IT SOMETIMES GETS YOU THRU SOME PARTS OF THOSE ROUGH YOUNG SCHOOL YEARS. YOU DO FALL IN LOVE FOR THAT SEMI-STRAIGHT DUDE . THE SEMI-STRAIGHT DUDES ENJOY YOUR AFFECTIONS TOWARD HIM AND HOW IT FEELS TO RELEASE A NUTT INSIDE YOUR MOUTH OR ASS OR ON YOUR FACE . BELIEVE IT OR NOT , HE DEPENDS ON THAT NUTT HE GETS WITH YOU. THOSE YEARS CAN BE JUST A SEASON FOR STRAIGHT DUDE AND THATS IT < . BUT I WOULD DO IT AGAIN