Canadian bad boy film-maker Bruce LaBruce's latest offering is somewhat tamer than his previous creations, The Raspberry Reich and L.A. Zombie, but Gerontophilia explores a subject seldom touched upon in gay film: the May-December romance. Some critics have likened the film to a queer Harold and Maude, but LaBruce prefers to frame it as a reverse-Lolita.

 

Lake (Pier-Gabriele LaJoie) has just completed high school and his proclivity for much, much older men is hinted at early on. So when his mother (Marie-Helene Thibault) gets him a job in the retirement home where she works, he doesn't resist - and soon meets Mr. Peabody (Walter Borden.) 

 

Unlike other LaBruce flicks, there's little sex in the movie, and when it does occur it's more sensual than explicit. The relationship between Lake and Mr. Peabody unfolds naturally and you can sense the genuine affection the characters have for each other. 

 

Sexual attractions come in all flavors and the gist of the movie is that a relationship between young and old can work, at least for a while. In other words, comparisons to Harold and Maude are appropriate, even if the main characters are both males.