Black Doves, All's Fair and The Gilded Age — Plus My Gender Is Black reviewed

Hey! David here. Welcome back to Cruising Cinema!

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Following a short break, it's good to be back in your inboxes once again.

I'm at my second film festival of the month, because I am clinically insane, so today's edition is going to be a bit shorter than usual.

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Queer and Now

Everything new in the world of queer TV and film

— The first season of Netflix's spy thriller Black Doves proved that Ben Whishaw should have played James Bond, not Q, because lord knows we need more twinks in the secret service.

It's probably for the best that this fantasy I just came up with didn't pan out though, because Joe Barton's phenomenal show was able to foreground Whishaw's queerness and hotness in ways Bond never could.

Plus, it was just a brilliant series all round, which is why I'm happy to share that season two of Black Doves will be streaming very soon on Netflix from November 5th.

— Animol follows the surprising bond that newcomer Troy (Tut Nyuot) develops with fellow inmate Krystiyan (Vladyslav Baliuk) in a Young Offender Institution. Director Ashley Walters, of Top Boy and Adolescence fame, nurtures tenderness amidst the violence in his award-winning directorial debut.

I was lucky enough to watch the world premiere at Berlin earlier this year where I gave the film five stars for Digital Spy. Nyuot is incredible and the ever-reliable Stephen Graham pops up for a funny dance, in case you need more reasons to check it out.

Take a gander at my review here and then go watch Animol in UK cinemas from today.

— Finished the dire new season of American Horror Story and need some more Ryan Murphy slop in your life? Eat it up piggies because All's Fair is back for a second season starting on November 4 with three new episodes.

So bad that it's good but then actually no, it's just really bad, this show stars icons such as Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Glenn Close and Teyana Taylor. Kim Kardashian is also in it.

On the plus side, Ally McDrivel will feature some queer legends including Lady Bunny and Bob the Drag Queen this season alongside Margo Martindale, one of the greatest Mothers to ever Mother.

— The Gilded Age promises to gild harder than ever with its fourth season, out November 1 in the US and November 2 in the UK.

Camp, comforting and a little silly all round, the New York-set period drama has become a must-see thanks to icons such as Carrie Coon, Cynthia Nixon and Christine Baranski.

This triple C threat is endlessly watchable, as is Morgan Spector for reasons I shan't divulge here lest I risk the judgement of all who know me.

— Mexican indie The Divine Tragedy follows a former telenovela actor named Cristián who's forced to live with his gay half-brother Roy following a breakup. One is a traditionalist and one is a hedonist. See, gays can have depth!

Sergio Tovar Velarde's latest will arrive on DVD and VOD from November 3 following a healthy queer festival run, so make sure you check it out and give it some love.

43 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of 2026 Ranked (so far)

Plus where to watch them

In need of something new and extremely gay to watch? Look no further than my ranking of the 43 best LGBTQ+ movies released this year so far.

Check out the link below to see where your faves end up.

Out Takes

Queer hidden gems you need to see

I often feel like I don't have time to watch all the feature films I want to see, which leaves even less time for shorts, even though that's where the most creative work can often be found.

With that being said, I'm very glad I set aside 20 minutes for My Gender Is Black, an experimental documentary that explores how Blackness affects people's experience of gender and masculinity.

The film describes itself as "experimental" from the outset, but that's not to say it feels inaccessible. Rather, director Terry Blade uses a free-flowing structure to weave in bigger questions without ever feeling didactic.

Using a mix of interviews, quotes, performances and archival footage, My Gender is Black asks us to consider the expectations imposed on Black bodies without expecting definitive answers from us as a viewer.

"Black men struggle with masculinity so much. The idea that we must always be strong really presses us all down. It keeps us from growing." — Donald Glover.

Through short conversation clips that enter midway and cut off before the end, Blade opens up new wider conversations regarding how people push back against societal constraints to embody their authentic selves.

Each conversation holds space for queer Black people to express their own version of queerness and Blackness, exploring how the two intersect. Talk of crying, of transness, of harmful stereotypes rooted in "no fats, no femmes" discourse, touch on wider concerns that we're encouraged to consider in deeper terms beyond the short itself.

Between every talking clip, dream-like sequences frame Blackness with an ethereal beauty, be it through monochromatic photoshoots, striking fashion worn by men adorned with flowers, and even an extended dance at the end.

I could have watched the dance alone for 20 minutes, never mind the rest of the short, although some skateboarding sequences in the middle didn't add as much as the rest did.

What could have been a jumbled mess feels seamless through Blade's direction and editing, framing the central questions with exquisite, entrancing cinematography that demands to be seen on a bigger screen than the laptop I used to experience it.

There's an emotional weight to the imagery that aligns so well with the actual conversations taking place, whether they're spoken by unknowns or the legendary writer James Baldwin, whose posthumous appearance here deepens the discussion further.

The short is bookended by Cristian Julian Chigbolu, a trans man who opens My Gender Is Black with anecdotes about his childhood.

"I honestly knew I was trans when I was five... I never felt trans, I just felt like a boy."

At the end, talk of Cristian's hair — "Having a fresh cut was the closest thing to testosterone" — is cut off mid-sentence, which might be frustrating for some. A whole film could have been dedicated to the relationship between Black hair and transness, far more than this mere minute or so can convey.

But that's very much the point of it, I feel. Knowing you can only fit so much in a short like this, especially when it comes to such huge, wide-ranging topics, Blade cuts it short to encourage further conversation, platforming vital issues through a new lens.

A decade on from Moonlight, Black queerness remains a rarity on screen, even more so when it comes to the direct involvement of Black queer filmmakers and performers. With that in mind, make sure you seek out the projects that do exist, fascinating, vital films like this one.

My Gender Is Black is currently part of the 18th edition of the Massimadi Afro LGBTQ+ Film and Arts Festival in Montreal, Canada, which runs now through November 8, 2026. Find out more about the short here.

44 Best LGBTQ+ TV Shows of 2026 Ranked (so far)

Plus where to watch them

Do you want gay shit? Of course you do. Do you want to spend hours looking for it? Obviously not. Thankfully, I'm here to help with this ranking of the 44 best LGBTQ+ shows I've seen so far this year.

Check out the link below to see where your faves end up.

And just like that, we've come to the end of Cruising Cinema today. As a thank you for making it this far, here's Jonathan Bailey with a reminder to drink your milk. See you next week!

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