Zane Phillips And Jelani Alladin Get Hot In Sexy Queer Thriller “Strangers On A Beach”
Fans of Zane Phillips (Fire Island) and Jelani Alladin (Fellow Travelers) have something new to look forward to. The pair are starring in Strangers On A Beach, an upcoming short film described as a queer erotic thriller set firmly in the 1980s.
Danger And Desire In 80s San Francisco
Written and directed by Michael Schwartz (Snatched), the film throws viewers into a specific time and place. The official logline sets the scene: “It’s 1983 in San Francisco, and a mysterious killer is targeting homosexual men. But Calvin just wants to kiss that handsome stranger.” This mix of looming threat and personal yearning forms the core of the story. If you’re keen to see it, Strangers On A Beach will have its world premiere at New York’s Big Apple Film Festival this June.
Alongside Phillips and Alladin, the cast includes Juliana Aidén Martinez (Griselda) and Jack Falahee (How To Get Away With Murder). Behind the scenes, Schwartz directs his own script, working with producers Andrew Carlberg (Skin) and Nilou Safinya (Julia Blue). It’s a reunion for Schwartz and Safinya’s production companies, marking their third project together.
Schwartz mentioned the film draws inspiration from 1980s noir classics by directors like David Lynch and Brian De Palma, but with a crucial difference. He aims to challenge how those older films often handled queerness.
“Studio films of that era often reveled in queer subtext,” Schwartz explained in a statement. “But even between the lines, queerness was frequently coded as danger… By centering authentically queer voices – all while keeping things scary, sexy and strange – we set out to challenge the biases of both the characters and the audience who watch them.”
This commitment to authentic voices is reflected in the casting of Zane Phillips and Jelani Alladin, both openly gay actors, in the lead roles.
Does a handsome stranger, a potential killer, and an undeniable attraction sound familiar? The setup certainly echoes Alain Guiraudie’s gripping 2013 French thriller Stranger By The Lake. That film explored dangerous liaisons and desire overriding caution at a lakeside cruising spot. It seems Strangers On A Beach is diving into similarly murky, thrilling waters from its own unique ’80s perspective.
Strangers On A Beach looks set to blend a stylish retro thriller vibe with a perspective grounded firmly in genuine queer experience.
