The Mattachine Family

The journey to self-discovery can come in many different ways – whether it be falling in love, momentous steps in career and life or even wanting to start a family. But what happens when those dreams are dashed…and you’re left to figure out a new path in your life? And if that new path upends everything you once knew, is the risk worth the decision? For Thomas (Nico Tortorella), these very questions have the power to change everything he holds dear. Written by Danny Vallentine and directed by Andy Vallentine, The Mattachine Family is a story of love, loss and the journey to healing with your found family.

Thomas and his husband Oscar (Juan Pablo Di Pace) have anything but an ordinary life. As their childhoods and realization of sexuality led them down different life paths, they still found one another in a chance encounter and found themselves in the classic romantic trope: love, marriage and (at the encouragement of Oscar) starting a family. Everything was perfect…until it wasn’t. After a year of fostering and losing their child Arthur (Matthew Jacob Ocampo) as he is returned to his biological mother Sarah (Colleen Foy), Thomas struggles with the void created by that loss.

Eager to heal and figure out a new path while Oscar’s career in show business begins to take off, Thomas wonders what the right decision is for him and his life. Whether it be moving with Oscar to Michigan or remaining child-free for life or taking the riskier path of starting over again with the foster system, Thomas faces life-altering decisions. But with some sage advice and the support of his friends Leah (Emily Hampshire), Jamie (Jake Choi) and Sonia (Cloie Wyatt Taylor), he learns that whatever decision he makes will be met with the love and support of those that know him best.

Andy and Danny Vallentine have given the love and family trope new life and perspective with The Mattachine Family. The love between Thomas and Oscar isn’t perfect, nor is it infallible. Although Oscar is the one eager to foster and start their family, he is the first to push back once Thomas is ready to try again. But despite the conflict, there is love….yet is it enough to come back to one another and try again? Both Thomas and Oscar are flawed characters, especially when Thomas’s own family life is destroyed by the death of his father when he was a child and the realization afterwards that he had a second life outside of his family. For Oscar, the outing of his sexuality at the height of his career was a tough pill to swallow yet he eventually grows from that setback and finds his way back in front of a camera. While Oscar reconciled his past and made himself whole again, Thomas has yet to figure out what he wants and how that decision will impact his life.

One of my favorite parts of the film is not necessarily the relationship between Thomas and Oscar, but Thomas and his bestie Leah. Tortorella and Hampshire have such a symbiotic relationship and it shows on the screen. During their scenes, Leah is the one person who can push Thomas out of his head and make him face his own dreams head on. In turn, Thomas is there at a moment’s notice for Leah as she struggles with her own fertility issues. The way that they lean on one another and aren’t afraid to expose each other’s vulnerabilities is beautiful to watch, especially as Leah does not hesitate to ask Thomas about wanting to have a baby and try parenting once more. When a film can focus on more than just romance and gives the other relationships depth and room to flourish, there’s something beautiful about that growth over just another love story.

While we hope love may conquer all, it’s not always the romantic aspect of that emotion that wins. For Thomas, he learns that love comes in all different forms. Whether it be from the support of his friends or in finding love for who he aspires to be, he discovers the strength to find out what that means. And, hopefully, Oscar can accept that future.