Ben & Arthur
Ben (Jamie Brett Gabel) and Arthur (Sam Mraovich) are a gay couple eagerly awaiting the legalization of gay marriage in Hawaii so that they may travel there for their dream wedding. After a news bulletin that a judge has made a ruling that will allow gay marriages to take place, the men purchase plane tickets and prepare to depart; however, before they leave, they discover that a challenge to the judge's ruling has resulted in a suspension of gay marriage in Hawaii, pending further judicial review. Ben takes advantage of the delay to inform Arthur that he is actually already married to a woman named Tammy (Julie Belknap), whom he wed out of societal pressure before he came to terms with his homosexuality and from whom he has been separated since before he and Arthur met. Arthur becomes angry, but decides to stay with Ben anyway. Shortly thereafter, Ben contacts Tammy, finally comes out to her, and asks her for a divorce.
After the disappointment of their near-wedding, Ben and Arthur resume their daily life, working in a small diner in Los Angeles, where Ben is a dishwasher and Arthur is a waiter. Although Ben—a former nurse who quit to pursue a music career—enjoys the manual labor and hours, Arthur has grown impatient with servitude and putting up with needy customers. One night, Arthur decides to quit and go back to college, so that he can earn an MBA and open up his own sex shop. Although the loss of income to the household means that Ben will have to quit and return to being a nurse, he agrees to do so in order to help Arthur pursue his dream.
To finance his education, Arthur tracks down his estranged brother, Victor (Michael Haboush), whom he hasn't spoken to for seven years. Victor is a religious fanatic who believes that Arthur's homosexuality is a sign of demonic possession, although Victor himself appears to be flamboyantly gay—even greeting Arthur in a pink, feathered bathrobe. Although Victor lashes out at Arthur for his failure to turn straight, he nonetheless offers to give Arthur money for college if he will bring Ben by the apartment and allow him to evangelize.
While Arthur considers Victor's offer, he and Ben hire an attorney (Gina Aguilar) to consult for advice on getting married. Despite Ben's still being legally married to Tammy, the attorney counsels them to travel to Vermont, be wed in a civil union, and then return to California and attempt to be recognized as members of a domestic partnership. The two take her advice, and are wed in a private ceremony in Vermont.
Suspicious of Arthur's lack of response to his monetary offer, Victor hires a private investigator to tail Ben and Arthur. The PI tells Victor about the men's marriage and their attempts to get their union recognized in California. In response, Victor follows the attorney home one evening and shoots her to death in her apartment's parking garage. At the same time, Tammy arrives at Arthur's apartment and tries to force Ben to take her back at gunpoint, but Ben successfully disarms her and throws her out.
Following their attorney's death, Ben and Arthur agree to come to Victor's apartment. Rather than evangelize, Victor and another congregant from his church, Stan (Richard Hitchcock), lash out at the couple with homophobic insults and slurs. When Ben and Arthur leave, Victor and Stan start making plans to exorcise the couple by feeding them Holy Water that Stan has cooked in his kitchen. The plot fails, and Ben and Arthur leave town to enjoy a honeymoon in Hawaii and allow the tension with Victor to blow over. In Ben and Arthur's absence, Victor is summoned to church by his priest, Father Rabin (Bill Hindley). Rabin informs him that he is being excommunicated because the congregation does not want the relative of a gay person attending church services, fearful that he will bring them bad karma and negative energy. A dejected Victor reaches out to Stan for help, who helps Victor come to an agreement with Father Rabin that Victor will be permitted to rejoin the church if he successfully murders Ben and Arthur. To this end, they hire a hitman named Scott (Nick Bennet), whom Father Rabin has apparently used to kill gay people in the past.
When Ben and Arthur return from Hawaii, Ben is gay bashed by Victor and Scott; the attack fails to kill him, and Ben is hospitalized. Suspecting his brother's involvement, Arthur breaks into Victor's apartment and taps his phone. After intercepting a call implicating Victor and Father Rabin, Arthur goes to Victor's church, chloroforms Father Rabin, and then murders him by burning the church down with him still inside.
After Ben has sufficiently recovered, Arthur takes him back home to their apartment. Deciding that the next attempt on the men's lives must be more drastic, Victor and Scott go Ben and Arthur's apartment with guns; at the last minute, Victor tells Scott that he wants to kill them himself and sends him away. Victor rings the apartment's doorbell, and when Ben answers, he fatally shoots him. He then forces Arthur to strip naked at gunpoint and performs an impromptu baptism in the bathtub.
While Victor contemplates what he's done, Arthur slips away and gets the gun that Ben had earlier confiscated from Tammy. Dressed in a bathrobe and briefs, a hysterical Arthur—reenacting one of the final scenes of Scarface—propositions Victor while holding him at gunpoint, accusing him of lashing out to try to combat his own repressed homosexuality. When Arthur fires a warning shot, Victor pulls out his own gun and shoots Arthur in the chest and back several times. In turn, Arthur manages to fire off a single shot which hits Victor in the forehead and instantly kills him, before Arthur dies of his own wounds.
cruelty, revenge, psychedelic, murder, home movie