Before I Do

The queertet is getting back together. Out in the woods, at the cabin by the lake which they think looks like something out of a horror movie, they’re preparing to celebrate the marriage of John Michael (Cole Doman) and his partner David. They haven’t spent time like this for years, and they’re looking forward to fun times, but there’s a complication. David isn’t there, and in his absence, John Michael experiences complicated feelings about the man he was with before.

This is Alex (Michael Hsu Rosen), who left him to look for something more exciting, ended up in an abusive relationship, and has since begun to realise that his intense feelings about what he left behind are not going to go away. His friend Luis (Robin de Jesus) tells him that he thinks John Michael and David could be contented in marriage, but not much more, and remembers the former couple as his ideal of love, encouraging Alex to declare his feelings and make a move before it’s too late.

Gary Jaffe’s sensitive indie drama, which screened as part of Newfest 2026, also finds room for a good bit of comedy as the five men party together, get caught up in more trivial misunderstandings and put on a Meryl Streep-themed drag show as a gift to John Michael. A subplot around token straight friend Kit (Nico Greetham) coming out as bisexual finds humour in the situation without mocking bisexuality itself, as it changes the dynamic within the group and proves so distracting to Simon (Jared Reinfeldt), who has long had a crush on him, that the latter almost misses out on the other opportunity that has been there for him all along.

In this midst of all this light-heartedness, it becomes increasingly apparent that John Michael is depressed and quite fragile. Doman’s vulnerable performance is a standout. Viewers are likely to be divided over whether John Michael needs to be rescued from marriage or from Alex’s unsettling advances. Either way, the situation is messy, and presents itself as an extreme version of the crisis they’re all going through on some level as they reach the stage in life where society expects them to make long term commitments, even if that’s a commitment to sleeping around.

There’s an intelligent dissection of ideas going on here, and an acknowledgement of the frequent mismatch between ideals and emotions. The film is entertaining when it needs to be, warm-hearted, and sexual without being gratuitous. The characters are well drawn and effectively realised. It’s a smart piece of cinema which nevertheless slides down easily.

Reviewed on: 30 Oct 2026