Three Months
paramount+Since his days posting on Youtube, Troye Sivan has stood as a modern queer icon with his work both in front of a camera and behind a recording booth, inspiring many. It is somewhat confusing due to this that randomly it was announced with almost no promotion or attention that Sivan was returning to the big screen for the first time in nearly 4-years in Jared Frieder's Three Months. Releasing exclusively on Paramount+, Three Months chronicles the time span in which teenager Caleb Khan (Sivan) has to wait to have a decisive conclusion on his HIV status after he has been exposed to the virus. Along the way, Caleb has to navigate a complicated love life and drama with his best friend Dara (Brianne Tju).
On the outside, this premise is one with much potential and need. Historically, the LGBTQ+ community has been attacked and dehumanised for their battles with HIV and AIDS, so to have a modern queer voice bring to life a story to humanise this experience is rather exceptional. The issue, however, is that the execution within Three Months is simply bad. Losing any sense of nuance or true maturity, the results found from Three Months is confusing and unsatisfying in nearly every sense. The immediate note to strike as obvious is how out of place much of the drama is within the film. While Khan struggles with the anxiety and frustration regarding the HIV testing process are solid enough, the focus ends up putting that into the background, with the film clearly attempting to build a more digestible and quirky puzzle of drama to engage with. From Khan falling in love with the popcorn-obsessed Estha (Viveik Kalra) to Dara engaging in a sexual relationship with her adult and married boss at work, there is something incredibly forced and unengaging regarding the film.
The actual screenplay itself is just weak. The comedy is rarely actually funny, and the drama is consistently underwritten. From Estha distancing himself from Khan for reasons never fully established or understood to the film's climax when Khan is supposedly going to get his final test results, the film struggles to find follow-through and purpose. Even if an intention or idea is strong like the concept of ignoring Khan's diagnosis as ultimately it doesn't define him as a person, the execution has to be strong enough to establish these ideas and give them weight which is simply not the case in Three Months. In its best moments, the film is nothing more than a series of strong vignettes featuring queer pain like a son meeting with his distanced mother or being forced to share intimate details with his caregivers. These are far from new or original and, when the package around them is analysed, it is hard to see them as being rewarding enough to justify the entire viewing experience.
The performances throughout range from passable to bad. With a clear lack of direction behind the camera, those like Brianne Tju and Viveik Kalra are left to tread water with a serious lack of direction. Sivan might easily be the strongest in show but, again, his screenplay clearly holds him back from any potential greatness. It is beyond clear that in the writing process, there was supposed to be much more venom and layers to these characters, yet eventually this got sidelined by a desire for a more likable and digestible cast like one could find in a John Green novel. This identity crisis ends up tearing much of Three Months apart.
While it is hard to fully judge the heart of Three Months, as it clearly is trying to be a needed step towards the destigmatisation of those suffering from HIV, the execution is simply bad. The screenplay is awful and while it is clear that there are strong performers on set, their performances end up being cannibalised by the film's inner issues. The final result might have its moments, but is largely a boring and unrewarding effort that fails to leave its clearly desired impact.
