Love Is All You Need?

This film is about the experience of a young girl who is bullied because of her sexuality.

"Love Is All You Need?" depicts a world where homosexuality is the norm. The young girl got bullied in school because of her heterosexuality. In just 20 minutes, we see hate, bullying, violence, betrayal and intolerance. What the girl went through is so heart wrenching and tear jerking, that I am sure it will touch every viewer's heart. All these unacceptable attitudes are portrayed very effectively, making it clear that homophobia in the real world is as absurd as the events portrayed in the film. Acting and production are uniformly professional, and I applaud the filmmakers for making this thought provoking short film. I hope it will help spread tolerance and acceptance towards people who are different.

No matter what anyone says, bullying anyone for their romantic attraction is never the answer, whether you like the opposite or the same sex. In the case of Kim Rocco Shields' 2011 drama short Love Is All You Need?, the film subverts the bullied homosexual tale by swapping the taboo mindset towards heterosexuality instead. The short did so well that it spawned a feature length film adaptation in 2016, also directed by Shields. As for the short on its own, while its narrative is fairly typical in terms of what it's tackling, it's still a harsh reminder that we should not treat others any differently than ourselves.

Set in a world where heterosexuality is considered a sin outside of reproduction, a young girl named Ashley has interest in boys despite living with two moms who are unsupportive of opposite sex couples. Her interest in the opposing sex goes from being made fun of by her female peers to soon becoming the subject of in person and cyberbullying, to the point where the family members of a male classmate she is attracted to get on her case. The plotline isn't too different from narratives dealing with horrific incidents of bullying and harassment towards misunderstood people, but the subject matter itself is what makes the short timeless. Regardless of the sexual orientation from anyone watching this film, the amount of hatred Poor Ashley receives from blind ignorance is no different than the sadly still relevant times we are living in where being different seems to be a truly horrible sin. Not helped is how savage and brutal children can be in regards to being different, as it is possible that what occurs in the film could possibly trigger anyone going through similar trauma.

Arguably, based on the film's fairly short runtime, certain topics like same sex couples being heterophobic or how boys perceive girls probably could've been tackled a bit more. Seeing Ashley's parents, Karen and Vicki, argue over their child's sexual interests and the lives of other human beings is appropriately jarring in its own right, although perhaps a bit more screentime with their own points of view might have benefited a more in depth look. Not to mention, Ashley's love interest isn't that memorable of a character on his own outside of his basic role in the story, making him more of a plot convenience than anything else. That being said, this film is meant to be from the POV of a bullied teenage girl who doesn't understand why the world hates people like her, and it does its job quite well. The climax itself is probably more devastating than anything else in the film, as anyone who has lost their child to a similar fate could attach themselves to such a horrible turn of events. It's quite amazing how a film like this goes for the straightforward drama so anyone and everyone can relate.

It's hard to say whether Love Is All You Need? Will appeal to everybody given how serious its commentary is, but that shows how well the filmmakers did their homework. No matter if you happen to be straight or gay, man or woman, cis or trans, nobody deserves to be picked on or ridiculed for who they identify as. People hate what they don't understand and we need to be reminded why being different is not ultimately a bad thing, and it starts with works like this. Whether you check this film or its feature length adaptation, hopefully it will remind you that love is in fact all you need first and foremost.

Yes it is fairly low budget and the acting is not "perfect" however if you are straight like me and ALLOW yourself to go there, to imagine this world exists and put yourself in the shoes of if you were gay and the outcast and the loneliness and the pain that could occur.

If you allow this to happen within you, you may have an awakening like I did.

I live in an area that is predominantly Christian and people often only act Christian when it is easy to do so. The real test is to see others out in their daily routine.

Let me say this, there are few actual "saints" out there.

I bawled like a baby watching this, especially towards the end.

If this movie moves you, share it!

We need to LOVE people. This world needs it desperately. Even a smile can change someones day.

What if being gay was the norm and heterophobia existed?

In this thought provoking short film we see a world where being gay is the norm in society and being heterosexual will subject you to prejudice, bigotry and hate.

I have heard reviews stating this film is very graphic. I don't feel that it is overly graphic. There is simulated and implied violence but nothing too overt. But I imagine that this film will make some people uncomfortable, which I think, is what the film makers are aiming for.

I love it when someone turns something on it's ear and makes you think, and this film does just that, it turns societal norms around and hopefully will make you think :)

What a weird PSA. This actually not completely horrible, the topic of bullying is a serious issue and movie handles it with respect. The story is absolutely workable too, but, and I cannot emphasize this enough, premise of "what if straights were a minority?" is too funny to me. I was laughing when characters used slur "breeder" unironically. For the first half I was guessing is this a parody or what. Because of that you really can't look at this with a straight face until the final scenes. Maybe if this movie had a better acting, set pieces and characterization of gay parents it would be believable, but, unfortunately, for me it's just a "so bad it's good" kinda thing.