429:"It's very difficult for me to hate people," Stephen Cone tells me, and I believe him. If he were a vengeful writer, or an angry director—if he didn't care so damn much about each and every one of his characters—this "Birthday Party" would quickly devolve into stereotypical zealot madness. As it stands, though, Henry Gamble has surrounded himself with complex, difficult, frustrated people. Essentially, people with stories, just like you and me.
412:, but nevertheless lauded, "The film works best in its quieter moments, especially in its touching climactic scene in which Henry, sensitively portrayed by Doman in his film debut, finally allows himself to act on his suppressed impulses. It adds a welcome hopeful note to the preceding turmoil, reminding us yet again that the heart inevitably wants what it wants." Carson Kohler of
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noticed he had an erection, prompting the kids to complain to the church. Noticed that many of the party goers feel uncomfortable around him, Ricky goes to the bathroom and has a nervous breakdown. He then takes a razor and severely lacerates his face, prompting his mother and various party guests to take him to hospital.
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Party guest Logan has unreciprocated romantic feelings for Henry. Throughout the party Henry is cold towards Logan, but by the end of the film Henry asks Logan to spend the night with him. Henry and Logan lie in bed together, and Henry apologizes for his behavior. Henry then asks Logan if he wants to
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The party guests arrive and the film cuts between various storylines going on amongst them. Most of the party guests are members of the same church congregation, with the exception of some of Henry's school friends. One of the adult guests brings wine. Some of the adults are initially opposed to the
228:
Autumn, the elder Gamble child, is a freshman at a
Christian college. She struggles with the loss of her virginity to her ex-boyfriend. Although it was a mutual decision to have sex, she feels a crisis of faith as a result of having sex before marriage. By the end of the film she has reconciled and
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Bob Gamble is the patriarch of the family and head preacher of their church. Kat Gamble is the matriarch and also plays an active role in the church leadership. Their marriage is strained as Kat has had an affair and no longer has romantic feelings towards Bob. By the end of the film Kat tells Bob
232:
Ricky is a party guest and member of the church congregation. He wishes to resume his duties as a camp chaperone for the church's annual summer camp, but church leadership is uncomfortable with this due to an incident from the previous year. Ricky was showering with some of the teenagers and they
216:
teenager and active member of a church youth group. He and his friend Gabe masturbate together while discussing a girl who will be at his birthday party tomorrow before falling asleep. The next morning the boys join the rest of the Gamble family for breakfast, before Henry’s 17th birthday party
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that she wants a break in the marriage, and that she intends on temporarily moving outside of their house. Kat encourages Bob to use their time apart to strengthen his relationship with Henry, and to accept their son's homosexuality.
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also praised the film, writing, "There are so many substantial issues that this birthday party illuminates. Sexuality. The church. Sexuality and the church. And that's one line of the issues." Joe Ehrman-Dupre of
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received a generally positive response from critics. As of June 2023, the film holds an 86% approval rating on the review aggregator
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506:"Tyler Ross Talks THE KILLING Season 4, Moving to Netflix, Where His Character Ends Up, HENRY GAMBLE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY, and More"
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558:"Director Stephen Cone & Actor Cole Doman on Their New Queer Coming of Age Film 'Henry Gamble's Birthday Party'"
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gave the film a more mixed review, however, describing Cone as "not a sophisticated writer" and remarking, "
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397:, the film has a score of 59 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
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720:"'A Lot Of Stories:' Christianity and the Queer Human Condition At 'Henry Gamble's Birthday Party'"
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532:"Pat Healy and More Celebrate In First Images from Stephen Cone's 'Henry Gamble's Birthday Party'"
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753:"Review: In 'Henry Gamble's Birthday Party,' Sexual Repression (and Clothes) Start to Fall Away"
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described the film as a "somewhat less successful" work than Cone's similarly themed 2011 film
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478:"Exclusive: Wolfe Releasing Acquires Gay Coming-Of-Age Drama 'Henry Gamble's Birthday Party'"
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The film was awarded the SHOUT Jury Award and the
Audience Narrative Award at the 2015
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wine, but by the end of the party most of them are either tipsy or drunk.
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781:"Sidewalk Film Festival 2015 announces winners; here's the list"
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feels sincere but not accomplished, empathetic but not deep."
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692:"Homebrewed Movie & Beer: Henry Gamble's Birthday Party"
393:, based on 14 reviews with an average rating of 6.6/10. On
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The film had a principal production schedule of 18 days.
584:"Chronicle of a Dream Foretold: BAMcinemaFest 2015"
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664:"'Henry Gamble's Birthday Party': Film Review"
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341:The film was premiered on May 7, 2015 at the
200:is a 2015 drama film written and directed by
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425:praised the film as "miraculous" and wrote:
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357:On September 8, 2015, it was reported that
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636:"Henry Gamble's Birthday Party reviews"
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349:at the BAMcinemaFest on June 25, 2015.
229:get back together with her boyfriend.
504:Radish, Christina (August 22, 2014).
365:with plans to distribute the film on
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751:Kenigsberg, Ben (January 7, 2016).
718:Ehrman-Dupre, Joe (June 19, 2015).
582:Feinstein, Howard (June 16, 2015).
987:English-language independent films
937:Films about LGBTQ and Christianity
273:Hanna Dworkin as Bonnie Montgomery
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972:LGBTQ-related coming-of-age films
556:Weston, Hillary (June 25, 2015).
476:Sharf, Zack (September 8, 2015).
279:Patrick Andrews as Ricky Matthews
779:Carlton, Bob (August 30, 2015).
690:Kohler, Carson (June 12, 2015).
453:Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival
276:Darci Nalepa as Grace Montgomery
957:2010s LGBTQ-related drama films
609:"Henry Gamble's Birthday Party"
255:Elizabeth Laidlaw as Kat Gamble
237:kiss, to which Logan says yes.
922:Films directed by Stephen Cone
662:Scheck, Frank (July 7, 2015).
345:. The film later premiered in
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947:Films about sexual repression
886:Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
811:Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
441:Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
387:Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
363:Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
197:Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
22:Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
977:2010s English-language films
932:American LGBTQ-related films
530:Newman, Nick (May 1, 2015).
294:Travis Knight as Keith Noble
361:had acquired the rights to
315:Melanie Neilan as Christine
258:Nina Ganet as Autumn Gamble
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246:Cole Doman as Henry Gamble
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321:Spencer Curnutt as Cooper
118:Stephen Cone (uncredited)
33:Theatrical release poster
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962:2015 LGBTQ-related films
927:2015 independent films
669:The Hollywood Reporter
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403:The Hollywood Reporter
343:Maryland Film Festival
318:Grace Melon as Heather
952:Films shot in Chicago
324:Zoe Tyson as Cheyenne
153:May 7, 2015
982:2010s American films
786:The Huntsville Times
942:Films about parties
270:as Larry Montgomery
856:Films directed by
758:The New York Times
588:Filmmaker Magazine
562:BlackBook Magazine
436:The New York Times
309:Mia Hulen as Emily
212:Henry Gamble is a
16:2015 American film
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821:Criterion Channel
382:Critical response
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66:Michael A. Leppen
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285:as Rose Matthews
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730:the original
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169:Running time
146:Release date
60:Stephen Cone
52:Stephen Cone
43:Stephen Cone
359:Wolfe Video
298:Daniel Kyri
283:Meg Thalken
139:Wolfe Video
101:Meg Thalken
64:Laura Klein
57:Produced by
39:Directed by
917:2015 films
911:Categories
641:Metacritic
459:References
395:Metacritic
353:Home media
329:Production
262:Tyler Ross
173:87 minutes
157:2015-05-07
110:Jason Chiu
91:Tyler Ross
88:Nina Ganet
76:Cole Doman
62:Bryan Hart
49:Written by
878:Black Box
764:April 13,
725:Indiewire
647:April 13,
483:Indiewire
447:Accolades
422:Indiewire
377:Reception
304:Joe Keery
250:Pat Healy
115:Edited by
83:Joe Keery
79:Pat Healy
620:June 22,
510:Collider
300:as Logan
264:as Aaron
217:begins.
214:closeted
186:Language
123:Music by
73:Starring
337:Release
306:as Gabe
189:English
178:Country
155: (
897:(2017)
889:(2015)
881:(2013)
873:(2011)
816:IMDb
794:2015
766:2016
738:2015
705:2015
677:2015
649:2016
622:2023
595:2015
569:2015
543:2015
517:2015
491:2015
369:and
241:Cast
208:Plot
814:at
697:Vox
415:Vox
371:DVD
367:VOD
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
