WATCH: Nico Tortorella stars in this new dramedy about a gay couple hoping to start a family
The Mattachine Family is a film that starts with a goodbye.For the past year, partners Thomas (Younger‘s Nico Tortorella) and Oscar (Mamma Mia!‘s Juan Pablo Di Pace) have fostered a young kid named Arthur, and in that time the family built a bond stronger than they could’ve ever imaged.
But, one day, Arthur’s mother returns, leaving an empty space in the home and hearts of the couple.Meanwhile, Thomas’ oldest and best friend Leah (Schitt’s Creek‘s Emily Hampshire) is dealing with a loss of her own, having recently miscarried.
As they grieve together and try to move on, the group of queer thirty-somethings wonders what it means for them to have a family of their own.From first-time feature filmmaker Andy Vallentine (The Letter Men)—co-written with his husband, Danny—The Mattachine Family is a new dramedy about modern fatherhood and friendship from a queer perspective.The LA-set film takes it’s name from the Silver Lake neighborhood’s Mattachine Steps, which are in turn named after the Mattachine Society—one of the country’s earliest gay rights organizations—in honor of founder Harry Hay.“The Mattachine Family is an intensely personal story that was born out of real conversations my husband and I had around fatherhood and what it looks like for two gay men,” Vallentine says in an official press statement.“Thomas and Oscar both came of age during a time when certain rights like marriage and parenthood were not granted to gay people,” the director continues. “They had accepted and embraced the life they thought would be available to them as gay men.
