If you thought the rom-com was dead, you are very much mistaken. This film alone shows just how well a comedy can be and how there is still some romance left in the world. To be fair, Bros was set up for greatness when the Director is the mastermind behind some of the comedy greats of the last decade, Nicholas Stoller.

Podcaster and gay activist, Bobby (Billy Eichner) is 40 and never been in love. He puts his effort into his highly popular podcast and as head of the board for a LGBTQI museum soon to open. 

Happy with the occasional hook up Bobby goes about his every day coming to terms maybe love isn’t on the cards for him. 

Standing on the balcony at a club watching the crowd of mostly half naked men dance, Bobby catches the eye of a half naked man Aaron. Bobby’s friend Henry, says Aaron is boring and already Bobby has written him off.

Aaron heads up to the balcony and while chatting away it’s evident Bobby is a tad rusty with his flirting and small talk. When things don’t go well they conclude nothing will happen and go their separate ways. But if Aaron did want his number he could get it off Henry.

The next day the two text, it’s evident there is a spark. The two struggle to come to terms with what is happening and every step they get closer to each other only manage to go a step backward. Not wanting to open up, let someone in and in Aaron’s case there is still a sense of shame.

The two discover not only the balance to make their relationship work, but help each other be a better version of themselves. This all happens in the most dramatic and sassy way possible with a hint of toxic masculinity. 

The story is exactly as you would expect from a rom-com, awkward sex scenes jam packed full of awkward humour. But what you get with the gays is a while lotta drama, over thinking and sadly a very catty community.

While the film has a lot of laugh out loud moments, it delicately touches on the darker side of the queer community. The self doubt, the internalised homophobia and a very sad mentality that monogamy is no longer valid. It’s almost as if the film is saying: “we as a community have come so far, now let’s work on ourselves”.

All seriousness aside, this film will have you absolutely belting out laughs. This is thanks to the comedic stylings of Billy Eichner. You’ll know him as Billy on the Street, his work as Craig on Parks and Recreation or the voice of Timone in the 2019 remake of The Lion King. He brings that quick witt and comedic delivery and steps it up to a thousand. 

While Eichner is giving comedy realness, it’s the master mind and genius of the rom-com Director Nicholas Stoller who brings it all together. Stoller gave us, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Five-Year Engagement and even Bad Neighbours. 

Stoller tends to find this perfect balance of getting to know the character and that sweet comedy spot. The characters in Bros don’t take half a film for the audience to relate to or understand. Stoller manages to deliver this perfectly rounded in-depth character so the actor can jump straight into doing what they need to do, make us laugh.

And while it makes sense; it’s one of the beautiful qualities about this film, the entire cast (except for the cameos) are queer. This gives some opportunities they otherwise might not have had in this industry. 

If there is room to fault this film it’s that it gives hope to an audience out of love at an age where it might seem impossible. But in reality, such things don’t happen. Especially to your average Joe. People are too smart to fall for these false ideologies of love or meeting people. The dating world has changed and unless you’re one of the very lucky few in the world who can find love not found through a dating app, it’s changed for good.

But in the end this is also the exact reason why the world needs more rom-coms. These films can give people hope, love and joy in an otherwise left swiping online world. Isn’t that all we need? Love?