Newly out on DVD, Max Emerson's "Hooked" is a powerful drama about a homeless New York street hustler. The film's world premiere, at Newfest, New York's LGBTQ film festival, was a benefit for The Ali Forney Center, a homeless shelter and advocacy group for LGBTQ kids in New York City. Director Emerson promises that 50% of the film's profits will be donated to not-for-profit affiliated organizations, including the Forney Center and GLAAD.
Jack (Conor Donnally) is living in a NYC youth hostel with his boyfriend Tom (Sean Ormond). Jack, who has a penchant for getting into trouble due to his borderline personality disorder, hopes to build a better life for himself and Tom. He earns a living by turning tricks. In the film's opening scene, Jack is punched by a coked-up client. Tom, meanwhile, is being subjected to sexual harassment at the youth hostel.
Jack soon meets Ken (Terrance Murphy), a well-to-do closet case who lives with his wife and baby son in Connecticut. Ken is struggling against his "urges," and seeks counsel from a priest. Even though they have no reason to trust each other, Jack agrees to accompany Ken on a trip to Miami. While there, he finds out about the wife that Ken had lied about. An enraged Jack, who thought he could trust Ken, steals Ken's gun and storms out onto the streets of Miami, where he ends up meeting some very seedy characters who put his life at risk.
Desperate to get back to New York and to Tom, Jack accepts an offer to jack off for a porn producer, who also hooks him up with a violent client. Things go from bad to worse.
Emerson does a good job of illustrating the horrors that homeless LGBTQ youth face every day. Scenes where Jack is beaten are powerful and disturbing, as are the sequences in which Tom is sexually harassed. It's not the life that either of them chose. In one heartbreaking scene Jack leaves his estranged mom a voicemail. She had thrown him out of the house. As title cards at the end of the film note, LGBTQ youth are eight times more likely to end up homeless, twice as likely to be sexually abused, develop severe drug addiction, or commit suicide. "Hooked" underscores these issues. "I miss the days when you made everything OK," Jack tearfully tells his mom.
The cast does good work. Conor Donnally is convincing as Jack, who tries to cover up his unhappiness with a veneer of sarcasm. Terrance Murphy is equally good as Ken, a handsome, middle-aged man who comes genuinely to care for Jack, and wants to help him. Ken is torn between his feelings for Jack and his love for his family. His marriage ends when his wife finds out what's going on. Ken's wife is no villain. She's a nice woman who wants her husband to be exclusive to their wedding vows. When she realizes he can't do this, she leaves.
But it's Jack and Tom who form the heart of "Hooked." They struggle to survive under conditions not of their own making. The two actors have wonderful chemistry together as they plan for the future they dream of, make love, and worry about each other. Tom is particularly concerned for Jack, who cannot seem to avoid trouble and often makes things worse with his own actions.
"Hooked" needs to be seen. Many who judge street kids, who think that these kids want to be on the street, might reconsider after seeing the film, which, without preaching, urges us to care for LGBTQ youth. Even today, with acceptance for the LGBTQ community at an all-time high, there are still thousands of parents who refuse to accept their queer kids. What happens to Jack and Tom could happen to anyone.