‘Riley’ Film Review
An enthralling and deeply personal film about self-acceptance, belonging, societal labels and identity
Film: Riley. Year: 2023. Genre: Drama. Director: Benjamin Howard
Throughout our lives, we all face many different decisions. During those moments, we hope to find a path to guide us toward a much brighter, happier, and more fulfilling direction. The most important one is, without a doubt, choosing between the life you want and the one that society constructed for you. It’s already hard enough for straight people (“Your biological clock is ticking”, “When are we going to hear those wedding bells”), but for LGBTQ+ people, it’s even more complicated. If they finally dare to step into the spotlight and reject the heteronormative society, they’re met with a lot of prejudice, fear, shame and uncertainty. And so probably also Dakota Riley, “Riley” for the friends, in Riley, the latest movie by writer/director Benjamin Howard (Deviant).
The high-school football star quarterback can no longer deny who he is. He might not be the person he thought he would be when a grown-up and indeed not the person society expects him to be. Can someone like Riley, a professional football player who has been protected by heavy shoulder patches, a stern father/coach, religion and a strict daily routine and whose…
