One the eve of his high school graduation, Caleb (Troye Sivan) is contacted by a previous partner informing the teen that he recently tested positive for HIV.  The news quickly derails what plans he had for the summer as he awaits the test results.  By his side is his best friend Dara (Brianne Tju), but as Caleb gets more and more involved with Estha (Viveik Kalra), another teen in the local HIV support group, Dara grows tired of feeling like the third wheel and Estha begins to get cold feet as his relationship with Caleb heats up. 

Written and directed by Jared Frieder, Three Months is a queer romantic comedy meets coming-of-age film that, despite the heavy subject matter, does not totally fall into the tragedy of being gay.  The film is bathed in hazy summer light which highlight the pleasing pastel colors.  It is imbued with that indie dramedy feel – for better and for worse – and while it does not reinvent the wheel, the competently made film is a huge step forward for representation in film.  Even more than just a “gay” or “queer” narrative, the film is one that does not totally focus its time on the struggles of coming out and identity, but rather it finds Caleb, who is very out and proud, facing a potentially troubling diagnosis.   

The Paramount+ released, 104-minute film takes a bold but tender look into the very real threat that HIV poses.  It is informative, but never feels like a lecture, and while it never gets too deep into the weeds in favor of remaining a lighthearted comedy, it can serve as a good entry point into learning more about this infection and raise awareness not only for safe practices, but also treatment options.  Advances in modern medicine as well as our better understanding of the virus’ pathology means we are no longer have the same fears or stigmas attached to the disease as we did in the time when Philadelphia (1993) or The Cure (1995) hit screens.  It would have been nice to see Three Months address the issue of HIV more overtly instead of treating it more as only a plot point, but it never treats Caleb’s condition as a death sentence and that is a refreshing take in a genre of film that is overwrought with tragedy. 

At the center of the film is Sivan’s Caleb, a character that would be so easy to write or perform poorly, but thankfully the script largely avoids many of the toxic tropes associated with young, gay men in comedies.  The teen who has his toes across the line of counterculture gets off to a rough start with his first lines being venomous snark slung at a blue-collar worker, and while that attitude will remain present throughout the course of the film, Caleb does become humbled.  It is so easy to make these characters just catty and mean and doing so is always a huge step back for positive representation and normalization, so it was very nice to see that Three Months achieves a nice balance where Caleb is more than just a delivery vehicle for sharp and rude sarcasm. 

Supporting Caleb through it all is his best friend, Dara.  Tju brings great, bubbling energy to the film and her unconditional love towards her friend is very sweet to see.  Her B-plot storyline has some high moments but does not seem very well thought out or fleshed out.  Possibly, there was a lot more left on the cutting room floor and, by and large, Three Months is well paced so adding more would be difficult but as it is presented it does not work as well as the main story.  Caleb’s other support is Estha in an excruciatingly teasing will-they-won’t-they relationship.  It takes a little time before Estha finds his place in the story, but it is fitting given that he is the new addition to the dynamic.  Kalra plays the role with the appropriate level of nervous energy without ever becoming grating, and as he opens up to Caleb, it gives way to some of the sweetest moments in the film. His arc can be frustrating to watch at times, and Frieder’s script bucks some of the rom-com conventions that we have come to expect so that he can highlight the very real and present anxiety that many LGBTQ+ people may feel at certain points in their lives. It is this understanding that makes Three Months such a special film because while it does not place any of these topics under the microscope, it recognizes the struggles as something real and does not force any one to make a decision that they are not ready to make. All three of the main characters are at different stages in their journey to discovery of their identity and at no point does anyone infantize the other – there is a respect present that is so, so, so important. 

Three Months is very competently and carefully made, and it plays well within the rules of its genre.  It is surprising just how much story ground the film seeks to cover.  It does so quite well and treats its subject matter with care and respect.  While it is not educational in a deep or thorough way, for its target audience it does well at giving them a baseline understanding of what HIV can look like in modern times and for those outside of its target demographic it serves as an cute, bubbling, offbeat romantic comedy.  With two catchy new tunes performed by Sivan, Three Months may not be groundbreaking cinema, but it is certainly enjoyable.