B-Sides and Badlands: Fantastic Fest 2025: ‘Body Blow’ is a queer noir wet dream

By Bee Delores

★★★★★

Dean Francis teases the audience with his very queer new noir.

It takes a keen eye and a deep understanding of noir to craft a film worthy of the genre. Writer/director Dean Francis offers a very queer take with his brand new film, Body Blow, which played this year’s Fantastic Fest. With a highly volatile mix of sex and murder, the neon-soaked indie entices the viewer into the dangerous underbelly of the gay club scene. It manages to balance tension and untethered, heart-pounding queerness with agility, while carrying a few surprises up its sleeve.

Disgraced cop Aiden (Tim Pocock) is down on his luck when he’s assigned to the popular queer nightlife district in Sydney, Australia. His superior, Steele (Sacha Horler), takes him out for a drink (or five) at one of the queerest hot spots, where he meets the seductive bartender and sex worker Cody (Tom Rodgers). Their fliratious encounter ignites attraction and lust; the days that follow, Aiden can’t get Cody out of his head. The bright neon lights douse the club scenes in a sensual haze, underscoring the innately erotic tone of the film.

After a back-alley camera captures an incriminating incident, Steele and Aiden return to the club sometime later and meet drag queen drug lord Fat Frankie (Paul Capsis). Steele urges Aiden to become “friends” with Frankie as a way to keep the videotape locked away in Frankie’s vault. As they get to know him, it becomes clear that Frankie likes to control people, particularly Cody, under a tyrannical thumb. He’s also no stranger to bribery, and he has the police department wrapped around his pretty little finger.

As a relationship blossoms between Aiden and Cody, Aiden struggles with his self-diagnosed “sex addiction” through watching bogus YouTube videos claiming that even masturbation is wrong. He eventually orders a cock cage online and attaches it to his member, further suffocating his gay urges, as he still fantasizes about Cody. Much like British film Femme (2023), Body Blow explores self-loathing, internalized homophobia, and rigid societal expectations of manhood.

Dean Francis crafts a thrilling slice of queer cinema. There’s sex, blood, and sweaty bodies galore! In working with cinematographer Franc Biffone, the filmmaker layers plush lighting as a key component to the visual storytelling. Among the best out of the festival this year, Body Blow is a menagerie of mystery, mayhem, and murder – with plenty of twists thrown in!

From https://bsidesbadlands.com/body-blow-noir-thriller-2025-review/