Rami Malek Burns Brighter Than He Has in Years in The Man I Love

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Ira Sachs has a keen eye for male beauty, and this really benefits Rami Malek in his new film, The Man I Love. Since his early success with Mr. Robot, Hollywood has often seen Malek as intriguing rather than traditionally handsome, but Sachs’s film presents him as someone used to being admired. Malek plays Jimmy George, an actor and performance artist known in certain New York circles. While visiting Jimmy’s sister, Brenda, and her son, Billy, Jimmy’s brother-in-law, Gene, privately criticizes him as being lazy, suggesting he could be a successful film actor in Los Angeles. However, Jimmy seems content with his life. He’s working with his theater group, the Mechanicals, on a stage version of the 1974 film Once Upon a Time in the East, and will play a bold singer named Carmen, proving that mainstream success isn’t what matters to him.

As a film lover, I was really moved by The Man I Love. It’s a film about a man, Jimmy, determined to keep creating art even as he’s facing a terminal illness, and it beautifully portrays the vibrant queer community of the late 80s who refused to be silenced by the AIDS epidemic. But at its heart, it’s about the painful experience of loving someone who seems to have limited space for you – a theme director Sachs explores a lot, like in Passages and Keep the Lights On. The film centers on Jimmy’s relationship with his long-term partner, Dennis (Tom Sturridge), who has tirelessly cared for him through everything, including a recent, near-fatal bout of pneumonia. When Jimmy recovers, he begins a relationship with Vincent (Luther Ford), a young, naive newcomer who moves in downstairs. Vincent isn’t just attracted to Jimmy; he’s convinced they’re destined for a grand romance. He’s almost desperate for Jimmy’s attention, even boldly telling Dennis that Jimmy needs to be with him – that as an artist, he requires the inspiration. It’s a really striking and somewhat unsettling dynamic.

Most films would focus on Vincent, the newcomer who falls for one of the established couple, experiences heartbreak, and then blends into the larger gay community. A stronger film might have explored Dennis and Sachs’s complex feelings about their relationship – the challenges of loving someone who is both dependent and distant. Instead, this film centers on Jimmy, a captivating man who is fading away. Jimmy is intensely charismatic but keeps everyone, including the viewers, at a distance. While the film beautifully portrays tragedy, this distance makes it feel somewhat detached. The script, co-written by Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, wisely avoids explaining the historical context or presenting the story as a study of the past. However, it also doesn’t offer much else in the way of connection, whether it’s showing Jimmy playfully recreating an old film for his nephew or giving us a glimpse into Jimmy and Dennis’s lives before the events of the story.

The film’s strongest point is Hall, who previously shone in Sachs’s excellent 2025 movie, Peter Hujar’s Day. Her character, Brenda, deeply loves her brother and openly expresses feelings that others keep hidden. Malek is captivating, successfully portraying a natural star quality—something he didn’t quite achieve in his role as Freddie Mercury—even before his character takes the stage, which he does, though on a smaller scale. However, his portrayal of Jimmy feels layered—like a performance within a performance—suggesting he’s always ‘on,’ either by habit or as a way to cope with his own mortality. It’s a bit odd to analyze the film this way, considering its gentle handling of its main character’s difficult final months. Despite its scale and sadness, The Man I Love feels less emotionally raw than Sachs’s previous, more experimental film—a recreation of a casual conversation between friends.

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2026-05-21 01:54