A point of sometimes intense discussion in the queer community centers around the kind of content queer filmmakers should put out into the world. This takes multiple forms, but one such discussion is between whether films should appeal to a wider (read: straight) audience as a way of “bridging the gap” and the desire to be combative or strictly for the queers. Crossing entertainment entities, I know, but think Will & Grace compared to something by Bruce LaBruce like Otto; or, Up with Dead People.

Recently, as more and more openly queer filmmakers are creating movies and television shows, we’ve seen this discussion trend more toward normalizing queerness and bringing it to the mainstream. I personally think it’s important to have both kinds of media…I just want more queer stories, period. But I’ve also been wanting more of that transgressive cinema that sticks its middle finger up to heteronormativity and says, “Straight people, you may watch this…but this made isn’t for you.”

And that’s exactly what Swallowed feels like. A transgressive piece of art that, a few foibles and a messy third act aside, reaches inside to find the filthy queer cinema that has been missing.

Written and directed by Carter Smith (The Ruins, Into the Dark’s “Midnight Kiss”), Swallowed opens at a dance club where Benjamin (Cooper Koch) lazily dances to the music while being filmed by his straight best friend Dom (Jose Colon). It’s immediately apparent that tension simmers between the two of them, and it takes a bit to even realize that they aren’t boyfriends, but just really good friends. It’s Benjamin’s last night in their shitty town because he is moving to California to become a porn star. Dom obviously doesn’t want him to go and is worried that Benjamin will forget him in his rise to stardom, but Benjamin counters that if the roles were reversed, Dom would do the same thing. “Tell me one good reason why I should stay here,” Benjamin tells him. “Seriously. Just one.”

It’s almost a dare. A desire for Dom to tell Benjamin to stay because of him and the hint of what they have. To live a fantasy that seems just on the tips of their tongues. But the moment ends just as quickly as it began.

Instead, Dom asks how much money Benjamin’s saved. Benjamin doesn’t seem too worried about his own funds because the porn company is paying for everything. Ever the good friend, Dom wants Benjamin to leave town with a wad of cash and so, on their ride home, Dom mentions he needs to make a quick stop. The stop, it turns out, is a drug run that will net them good money fast. But when they arrive, Alice (Jena Malone), their point of contact, seems more intense than expected. To the point that when they try to back out of taking the drugs, she pulls a gun on them. The drugs themselves seem off; little packets filled with something that must be kept at specific temperatures.

Oh, and they must be swallowed to get across the border into Canada.

What should have been an easy run turns into a spiraling nightmare as the two best friends spend their last night together dealing with bigoted rednecks, drug lords, the simmering tension between them…and whatever is squirming inside their stomachs.

The intimacy between Dom and Benjamin somewhat surprisingly creates the most tension, particularly as things begin to go wrong. The fear drips off of Benjamin’s face as Dom begins to deal with whatever is inside his stomach and the love the two of them becomes exceedingly obvious. Sure, there’s the platonic love and friendship, but there’s hints that maybe it could have been (or should have been) more. Filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio and filled with grimy settings, Carter’s film feels dangerous in the same way that finding a random VHS in the 90s would feel. It feels gritty and a touch sleazy…and that’s before it stretches the intimacy level between friends. It’s here, in the spoiler territory, that Swallowed is at its most transgressive, forcing two friends to really reach inside their friendship and do things that typically only sexually adventurous people would do.

The first two thirds of the film is a ticking time bomb of tension that propels the small and intimate story forward. Brief moments of violence and implied horror punctuate the narrative like staccato notes, popping the tension before resetting it. Safe to say that whatever drugs are inside the two of them are potent, as Dom begins to feel the effects in a very visual way which heightens the sexual tension between the two of them. Elements of implied body horror, heard and only slightly seen, are happening inside Dom’s body, as Carter’s camera focuses on sweaty faces and Dom’s drug-induced moans of pain and pleasure. Benjamin watches helplessly, trying to get his friend help while knowing he has one of the pustule-looking bags of drugs inside himself, as well. The intimately moving camera and the aspect ratio brings a visual level of intimacy that heightens the internal struggles the characters are going through.

Once Mark Patton’s character is introduced, Swallowed veers from an intense race against the clock into a weirdly campy and messy third act. Channeling Joe Exotic, Patton’s drug dealer brings a sense of dreadful and slimy whimsy to his performance, gender-bending the object of the typically sexualized and violent character towards the men. It verges a little too far into camp, unfortunately undercutting the tension that had been wonderfully crafted throughout most of the film. But when it seems to verge into almost comedic territory, the implication of sexually violent malice hiding behind his twinkling eyes helps keep it in check.

The third act as a whole was the weakest part for me, but it didn’t completely detract from the tense and unpredictable way the story unfolded. And it’s in the last third that Swallowed fully embraced its transgressive nature by presenting something uncomfortable, incredibly and surprisingly somber and deeply queer. It hints at the “could have beens” and the flexibility of sexuality that’s stuck between societal concepts of what’s straight and what’s gay. This film falls under the All the Dead Boys production that Carter Smith has been filming over the last few years. Beginning as a photo journey that mixes queerness, violence and sex and focuses on imagery that titillates as well as revolts, Swallowed is the natural progression of the photo series.

This is the kind of queer cinema I want to see more of. The kind that takes risks, plays it a little sassy and messy and questions that fine line between society norms surrounding what’s considered straight and queer. This one isn’t made for the straights or to ingratiate queerness into “mainstream society.” It’s a dirty little ode to friendship and the lines that can and can’t be crossed. And as messy and narratively screwy as it ends up, it’s still a huge win in my book.