What To Watch: ‘Boy Culture: Generation X’

Boy Culture: Generation X

, the highly-anticipated sequel to the trailblazing drama Boy Culture (2006), arrives today on all TV on-demand platforms. Returning in their iconic roles are the original film’s stars, Derek Magyar (as “X”) and Darryl Stephens (“Andrew”).

Via press release:

More than a decade after the events of the first film, Boy Culture: Generation X finds X and Andrew, the on-again, off-again couple, now both 40, broken up, and tensely sharing a home out of financial necessity.

When X attempts to plunge back into his previous job as a sex worker, he’s in for a rude awakening — he’s no longer the flavor of the month, and the entire industry has been transformed by changing attitudes, online platforms, and PreP.

X reluctantly turns to a bratty Gen Z twink named Chayce (Jason Caceres) to guide him back into the business.

Check out the trailer below.

Director and co-writer Q. Allan Brocka says the original film, cited among the 200 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time by Rotten Tomatoes, resonated because it showed LGBTQ+ relationships “in a positive way that embraced our sexuality and sexual experiences. There were not a lot of films doing this unless they focused on our trauma.” Of Boy Culture: Generation X, he says, “The original focused on taking a risk to find love. Now, X has had love, and something’s not quite working, so he’s got to refocus on himself — who is he outside of love?” Matthew Rettenmund, author of the novel on which the films are based and co-writer of the new film, says that along with aging among gay men, the new film “is even more diverse, and also talks a lot more about race, age-gap issues, the status of safer sex, bisexuality, social media image-making, cosplay … There is something startling and thought-provoking at every turn.”

Derek Magyar says of returning as X, “I love the character, the writing, the director. We are a family. We had a table read and it was like nothing had changed, except for the fact that we’d gotten a bit older.” For Darryl Stephens the dynamic between X and Andrew is relatable because it’s built on truth. “We all reach that point in our lives where we are suddenly questioning what we believed was good enough,” Stephens offers. “And we wonder … is that all there is to love? Because that’s what we all deserve, right? To be happy with ourselves?” Will X and Andrew come together once again, like they did at the end of the original film? Or is Boy Culture: Generation X the end? Boy Culture: Generation X is available now for TVOD rental across numerous platforms including Apple, Amazon, Google, and many others before arriving on the Dekkoo platform in 2024. Check out several behind-the-scenes on the set of the shoot over at Rettenmund’s long-running LGBTQ blog (just celebrated 18 years yesterday!), also titled Boy Culture, here. For more information, visit www.dekkoo.com.