Partners, The

If you’re one of those sorted queer filmgoers who are beyond the obsessions of ‘first base’ gay cinema – coming out, sex, coming out, sex – then here’s one for you.

This is a slick, high quality detective thriller made on a decent budget that just happens to feature a slew of gay characters. Part Inspector Morse, part CSI, it follows the trail of two French cops as they try and piece together the murder of a hustler and the disappearance of his girlfriend. The death is a fait accompli – The Partners begins with Vincent being fished out of a river. Both police officers, single and in their 40s, struggle with being alone and childless, and battle to understand the choices made by the young adults they are investigating. Being French, there’s no coy veil thrown over the hardarsed world of rent boys, pulling tricks or Internet porn, and the film’s noir aspirations are well realised. Gripping, pacey, smart and, consequently, sexy too.