Love Lies Bleeding took the world by storm in 2024 when the lesbian bodybuilding movie hit theaters. Now, a new film set in competitive bodybuilding, this time centered on a queer man, is poised to become the latest obsession.
Test is already a festival darling, winning the Audience Award for best narrative feature at the Provincetown International Film Festival, the Jury Award for outstanding first narrative feature at Frameline, and the Emerging Narrative Feature Award at Queer Screen in Sydney.
The brainchild of writer and star Brock Yurich, who took inspiration from his own life, Test explores a closeted man’s queer awakening as he struggles to accept his sexuality amid his religious community and goes to extreme lengths to shape his body into the bodybuilding world’s physical ideal.
“Telling Eddie’s story through my screenplay Test was all I could think about for the past 10 years," Yurich told Variety. "Making an independent film is a long painful process, but I knew the pain of giving up on it would be far greater. I am so thankful that I not only had the privilege of making such a deeply personal film with such a great team, but also to be able to share it at such prestigious film festivals.”
It may be a small indie film, but it has already won over critics, swept the film festival circuit, and picked up distribution.
Who is starring in ‘Test’?
Tandem Pictures
Tammy Blanchard (Into the Woods) plays Eddie’s ultra-religious mother and manager, Matthew Morrison (Glee) stars as a local pastor, Paloma Garcia-Lee (West Side Story) plays Eddie's old girlfriend, and Mike Edward (M3GAN 2.0) will star as Eddie’s coach.
What is ‘Test’ about?
Tandem Pictures
Test follows small-town bodybuilder Eddie, a closeted man willing to go to almost any length to achieve the perfect physique that will allow him to pursue a career in bodybuilding. On the road to his dream, Eddie struggles with his relationship with his religious mother, an addiction to performance-enhancing drugs, and an unexpected queer awakening. As he channels his stress and frustration into an obsession with molding his body at any cost, he starts training under an older coach who he ends up hooking up with, and earns money by secretly becoming a camboy.
In a review for Instinct, journalist Mike Defellipo wrote that the film will have you rooting for Eddie to have a happy ending as he tries desperately “to claw his way out of the darkness and into the light,” and called Yurich and Edward “completely smashable.”
Is there a trailer for ‘Test’?
Test already has a trailer that gives audiences a taste of the intense world of competitive bodybuilding as well as Eddie dealing with drug addiction, lusting after his new coach, and becoming a cam model.
When will ‘Test’ premiere?
Tandem Pictures
Test has been acquired by Dark Star Pictures for U.S. and Canadian distribution, with a planned theatrical release in 2027.
