Review: 'Makeup' a Slow, Sexy Burn

Stars and co-writers Hugo Andre and Will Masheter bring a slow-burning story of attraction, loss, and self-discovery to the screen with "Makeup."

Food critic Sacha (Andre) moves into a room in the London home of finance bro Dan (Masheter). Socailly awkward and more than a little OCD, Sacha can't face having much in the way of interactions with Dan – or anyone else, for that matter. But is it because Dan fancies himself a cook and Sacha knows that the meals he offers won't live up? Or is Sacha simply too shy and nervous to be comfortable making a new friend?

Dan, outgoing and confident as he is, has his own anxieties. A cool and collected professional who makes his investment firm loads of money, he presents clients – and his cutthroat colleagues – a perfectly composed face on the daily. His elaborate grooming routine is like a form of theater, with his business face a perfect mask. Far messier – and more genuine – is the face he wears when he's dressing up in women's clothing around the house or preparing to take to the stage and begin a new career on the DL as a drag performer.

Both men have suffered painful losses and are still reeling; slowly, they begin inching toward a friendship, and maybe even something more. The question hovers around the film's edges as to whether they are gay or straight, or if it even matters; more central is the question of whether, and when, they will summon the courage to jump-start their lives and move beyond their unsatisfying current circumstances. For Dan, the question becomes more urgent when his inaugural drag show takes a disastrous turn, with ripple effects that find their way into his career in the hypermasculine world of finance. But for Sacha, too, something needs to change. His world is too small, too tidy, and too airless for him to survive much longer.

Well-written, well-produced, and well-acted, this film could have been another vanity project. Thankfully, it's more than that. Andre and Masheter know how to unfold their story by tantalizing degrees, and they're skilled at what they leave to the imagination. As a result, this small-scale film feels big enough that it resounds with larger questions. Probably one of the year's best new LGBTQ+ offerings.

"Makeup" comes to VOD on June 27.