Go ‘Down Low’ with Zachary Quinto and Lukas Gage

Don’t you just hate it when an erotic massage turns into a violent death pact? That’s the outrageous, out-and-proud, out-of-bounds, out-of-their-minds, out-there premise of Down Low, a queer comedy starring Zachary Quinto.

“I like the unabashed gayness of it,” Quinto tells Variety. “It didn’t apologize for itself. It was the first thing I’ve done since the pandemic, and it was exciting to come do something unique and singular.”

With a sly nod to a central plotpoint in the film, he continues, “It allowed me to throw the boundaries out the window.”

See, when the two main characters hook up with a closeted trick, he tries to attack them and ends up defenestrating himself and splattering all over the ground below. It’s a macabre metaphor for coming out of the closet, and it’s wickedly funny.

In addition to acting, Lukas Gage is also one of the writers of Down Low. The inspiration for his dark desires came from some unexpected source material: Pretty Woman.

“We had an idea — what if we made it queer?” Gage recounts. “What if we made it a little bit more insane?”

So he took off the proverbial gloves and got his hands dirty… filthy, in fact. The movie begins with a naughty massage that quickly flourishes into romance between a millionaire and a hand job artist. They blur one another’s boundaries, push one another’s buttons, and test one another’s taboos.

The unlikely couple soon seeks a third, and that’s when man-on-man sex turns to manslaughter.

Down Low wowed the crowds at SXSW, which is the latest feather in Gage’s already crowded cap. He has stunned audiences in two of the buzziest broadcasts of the decade: Euphoria and White Lotus. And on a personal note, Gage recently revealed that he’s canoodling with mega-hunk Chris Appleton IRL.

Indeed, Appleton appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show to confirm that he and Gage are “very much in love” and we’re very happy for them [suppressing rage-jealousy calmly].

So, we wish the unnaturally handsome duo the best of luck and we hope that neither of them accidentally fall out a window, a la Down Low. Here’s to your smashing success!