‘Dream Boat’: Love Comes In All Shapes And Sizes In This Candid Berlinale Documentary Set On A Gay Cruise Ship – moviepilot.com

To outsiders, gay cruises are often seen as the pinnacle of hedonism within the community. After all, is there anything more gratifying than the idea of spending a week partying with hundreds of other gay men, all horny and ready to get down?

In his new feature length documentary, Dream Boat, director Tristan Ferland Milewski breaks down this stereotype through a frank yet surprisingly moving exploration of cruise life, telling unique stories that fly in the face of what one may expect. Of course, sex and alcohol play a role, but that's not the only reason why hordes of men fork out hard-earned money to take #gay cruises.

The protagonists who feature in Dream Boat represent a true array of different cultures and identities, including;

Each of these men cite different reasons for joining the 'Dream Boat', but ultimately, they're all striving to find their own identity, whether they define themselves through love with another or love for themselves.

Amidst the numerous and admittedly impressive bulge and ass shots that Milewski hones in on, Dream Boat takes time to introduce us to each of the main 'characters' in full, allowing them to feel comfortable enough to share their own personal struggles derived from living as gay men.

"My family didn't tolerate me."

Whether it's through specific cultural pressures or rejection from their families, each of the men who star in Dream Boat have a painful story to tell, humanising them far beyond the stereotypical hedonists that are often perceived to frequent gay cruises.

One particularly poignant conversation reveals a cruise attendee's fear of coming out to his mother, arguing that no pain would be greater than knowing that she could be alive somewhere in the world, refusing to converse with her son ever again.

Over the course of seven nights, the 'Dream Boat' holds increasingly more extravagant parties that become the focal point of Milewski's film. Tight close-ups of faces touching and bodies grinding reveal the euphoric allure of these trips in sumptuous detail, but there's more going on here than just an explosion of chiseled abs.

On the surface, casual sex is rife as made evident by the sea of used condoms left in the aftermath of one particularly raucous party. However, talk in the cabins focuses far more on the pursuit of love and the difficulties that gay men in particular face in this search.

"I think nobody wants to be lonely."

At one point, Dipankar explains how members of the gay community can be shallow and judgemental towards one another, claiming that only those with attractive bodies can succeed in love. Conversely though, and rather depressingly, Marek reveals that despite sculpting his muscles in a bid for attention, he finds it almost impossible to meet men who like him for who he is. Instead, the majority of would be partners would rather spend time counting his abs than getting to know him better as a person.

However, that doesn't mean audiences will drown in Dream Boat's tale of woe. If anything, Milewski's documentary is actually a rather uplifting affair, soaring on waves of joy and ecstasy. Judge the men who attend these cruises all you want because they don't care. Instead, Dream Boat takes great delight in exploring how each of these protagonists rise above their loneliness or insecurities, living their lives to the full.

Whether you're watching the men take part in a high heel race or dress up in drag as Sia, there are more than enough moments of levity here to remind us that people can only be truly happy once they embrace their own identities, regardless of how difficult that can be at times.