{"id":12890,"date":"2021-01-16T11:31:47","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T16:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=12890"},"modified":"2026-09-02T14:58:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T18:58:32","slug":"keep-the-lights-on-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=12890","title":{"rendered":"Keep the Lights On-2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keep The Lights On-2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Ira Sachs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #1,100<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed January 16, 2021<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

With such a healthy dose of LGBTQ+ films released during the 2010s, enough independent productions exist to please nearly everyone striving for good diversity in film.<\/p>\n

Over the years, it was tough to find specific genre films without having to hunt for subtle clues filmmakers incorporated.<\/p>\n

LGBTQ+ films are now a dime a dozen, which is good but makes some films fall under the radar.<\/p>\n

Keep the Lights On (2012) is a romantic drama, rather mysterious, about two men and the nine-year-long love affair they share. It’s not a happy watch because drug addiction is a large part of the story.<\/p>\n

It portrays the men as human beings with passion and feelings, experiencing joys and pains, rather than as caricatures or comic relief.<\/p>\n

This is progress, and worthy of much praise.<\/p>\n

The only issue with the film is that by 2012, and the decade as a whole, so many similar films were being made that it’s hard to distinguish it from other high-profile works.<\/p>\n

The LGBTQ bar was set very high with Brokeback Mountain in 2006, and recent offerings like Carol (2015) and Moonlight (2016) thrust the LGBTQ+ community into the spotlight.<\/p>\n

Keep the Lights On has many positives, especially cinematically, but it risks getting lost in the shuffle against other genre films.<\/p>\n

It’s worth checking out this gem.<\/p>\n

It’s best compared to the exceptional same-sex love story Call Me by Your Name (2017). Both are character-driven and are both happy and tragic.<\/p>\n

Keep the Lights On is technically an American film. It feels like an international film, though, because it centers around a Danish filmmaker who lives in New York City.<\/p>\n

Erik (Thure Lindhardt) is a troubled, creative soul who struggles to complete a documentary about an artist named Avery Willard.<\/p>\n

He meets and enters into a loving but complicated long-term relationship with Paul (Zachary Booth), a lawyer in the publishing industry who struggles with drug addiction.<\/p>\n

That’s what makes their relationship so complicated. They are bonded but plagued with outside challenges. It began in 1998 and ended in 2006.<\/p>\n

They meet via a phone sex chatline, which adds to the sexual mystique. Erik is gay and happily out, but Paul indulges in both men and women and is sexually conflicted.<\/p>\n

He gets Erik high. Will he lead Erik down a dark path? Will Paul clean up his act or die? Erik and Paul bed numerous other men throughout the story. This is an intriguing addition to the complicated events.<\/p>\n

Since the film is about a filmmaker, it should include cool, inventive camera angles and editing, and it does. Ira Sachs, an American director, delivers lush shots of New York City and looks through the lens of a true creative spirit, which justifies Erik’s character.<\/p>\n

The story builds slowly, and plenty of times I waited for something exciting to happen. But real life is made up of many small moments, and I loved how the film is, instead of adding big, momentous scenes for effect.<\/p>\n

The audience is meant to root for Erik and Paul to trot into happily-ever-after territory. This may or may not happen.<\/p>\n

Keep the Lights On has a vague ending open to interpretation.<\/p>\n

Erik and Paul look similar, which I found very interesting. They say that many same-sex couples are attracted to individuals who look like themselves. I’m not sure how true this is, but I wondered if Sachs had a point to make.<\/p>\n

Can a person have multiple sides that they see in other people? Keep the Lights On is told more from Erik’s perspective, and he sees in Paul the dark side of himself.<\/p>\n

The honesty that exudes from Keep the Lights On comes from Sach’s relationship with a publisher he met and fell in love with. The truthfulness comes across on screen, which is the main appeal of the overall experience.<\/p>\n

I love the title, which can be interpreted in a few different ways, especially once the conclusion arrives.<\/p>\n

I admire that Keep the Lights On (2012) was made, and the characters convey a longing and yearning that feels quite humanistic. It feels like it was created based on fact rather than a studio idea conjured up around a boardroom table.<\/p>\n

Ira Sachs creates an excellent, quiet film about two men and the love story they share. Their troubles come and go, but their passion and bond never waver.<\/p>\n

Independent Spirit Award Nominations:\u00a0<\/strong>Best Feature, Best Director-Ira Sachs, Best Male Lead-Thure Lindhardt, Best Screenplay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keep The Lights On-2012 Director Ira Sachs Starring Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth Scott’s Review #1,100 Reviewed January 16, 2021 Grade: A With such a healthy dose of LGBTQ+ films released during the 2010s, enough independent productions exist to please nearly everyone striving for good diversity in film. Over the years, it was tough to find … Continue reading Keep the Lights On-2012<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,41,211,339,122,11667,222],"tags":[3404,3407,3405,3406],"class_list":["post-12890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2012-films","category-indiefilms","category-indie-dramas","category-lgbt-dramas","category-gay-films","category-new-york-city","category-romantic-dramas","tag-ira-sachs","tag-julianne-nicholson","tag-thure-lindhardt","tag-zachary-booth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12890"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24324,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12890\/revisions\/24324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}