Before the Fall

It's a classic case of opposite attraction: Handsome Ben Bennet (Ethan Sharrett) is a gay, affluent, stylish attorney at the top of the genteel social set in southern Virginia, while Lee Darcy (Chase Conner) is a rough-hewn welder with a secret that he nightly tries to blot out with an excess of liquor. When Lee roughs up his girlfriend and is charged with domestic abuse, he overhears a derogatory comment made about him in court by Ben. Soon after, the men inadvertently come face to face and, surprisingly, find common ground when hiking with a group of friends in the gorgeous nearby wooded ridges. A quiet friendship slowly forms that is complicated when Ben discovers that he has a secret of his own - he has fallen in love with Lee. Byrum Geisler's cinematically gorgeous directorial debut is a modern day variation on Jane Austen's classic novel "Pride and Prejudice," re-imagined as a heartfelt, deeply satisfying gay romance.—Reeling Film Festival