Lovette clearly has an appreciation of LGBT stories but she's also a writer with a keen eye for adult interactions in broader contexts – one-sided relationships, loss, and secrets not being unique to a single demographic. The underlying drama and tension here could work equally well with different circumstances between the lead characters, and the dynamics are more universal than that. Director: Cam Archer Stars: Malcolm Stumpf, Patrick White, Max Paradise, Fairuza Balk. "When I'm With You" is a strong film with LGBT themes but it would be doing it a disservice to think of it purely as an LGBT film. A lyrical telling of the coming of age of a 13-year-old boy who learns to cope with his newfound sexuality and his unrequited love for the cool kid in school. (in my opinion) Honorable Mentions: Rocketman (2019) Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) Tangerine (2015) The Danish Girl (2015). This is a film that benefits from and is likely to generate post-screening conversation. Narratively, Lovette provides rich detail and a seemingly clear conclusion yet still leaves room for interpretation in her screenplay, especially among those who may have seen themselves, or their own stories, in different on screen personalities or experiences. Perhaps a little distracting at first, it quickly becomes an effective delivery style, adding depth to the on screen exchanges and the sense that none of them are limited to a single perspective.
Using a wandering focus, Armando allows the audience's attention to move around the screen, much as it would in real life, in rooms and spaces where there's more than one conversation or more than one thing to look at. Is it a tale of Lea's unrequited love, Logan's burgeoning romance during a time of neighborhood attacks, or Evan's struggle with his own unshared inner conflicts. This strained threesome is so well written that at times it's hard to determine quite whose story it is. Meanwhile she's deeply in love with her best friend Logan (Evan Price) – a relationship that's additionally ill- fated given that Logan is gay. When I'm With You- REVIEW by Tony Sheppard Producer/writer/actor Adrienne Lovette delivers a powerful drama in director Daniel Armando's "When I'm With You." Lea (Lovette) lives with her brother Evan (Anthony Pyatt Jr.), a young man with anger issues who's fallen in with the wrong crowd.