freakboy on film: SWALLOWED (2022)

Do you swallow? 

Dom sure does, but only to make sure his best friend Benjamin has some extra money before leaving.  Benjamin is off to L.A. to become the next big gay porn superstar and the producers are paying for everything.  This is why Dom agrees to be a drug mule for his cousin Dee-Dee.  

The first thing to go wrong is Dee-Dee is out of it, leaving her girlfriend Alice in charge.  Dom tries to back out of the deal, but Alice convinces him, at gunpoint, to swallow several gelatinous spheres containing the drugs.  Alice even forces Benjamin to swallow one.  Their mission, which they are forced to accept, is to drive across the border to a specific rest stop and poop out the spheres. 

The second thing to go wrong is a confrontation with a homophobic redneck, leaving them in a mess, literally.  After getting punched in the gut, Dom expels some of the drug spheres, but one has broke open inside him.  The side effects are simultaneously numbing and arousing.  Freaking out, and not knowing what else to do, Benjamin calls the police.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, Alice shows up first. 

The third thing to go wrong is Alice drives Benjamin and a very high and hard Dom to a cabin in the woods, leaving them at the mercy of Rich.  Rich is an aging drug kingpin with a flamboyant stylish flare and he wants his drugs out of the two young men.  What will happen?  Will Rich retrieve his gelatinous drug spheres and how?  Will Benjamin poop out  the one he swallowed?  Will Dom and his erection come down?  Will Alice help or hinder the whole situation?    What exactly are the drugs anyway?  I’ll keep my mouth shut and swallow the answers. 

I ordered SWALLOWED from Vinegar Syndrome for 2 reasons: Jena Malone and Mark Patton.  I first saw Jena Malone in the wickedly irreverent SAVED! (2004) and I’ve been a fan ever since.  As Alice in SWALLOWED, Jena does not disappoint.  She is somehow both scary and sympathetic.  Mark Patton, of course, became horror’s first male scream queen in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE (1985), which had an effect on my worldview.  As Rich in SWALLOWED, Mark gives a tour de force performance.  He manages to be humorous and disturbing, sometimes in the same breath.  Even though I’m not as familiar with Cooper Koch as Benjamin and José Colón as Dom, they both give strong performances as very complicated friends trapped in a waking nightmare.  

Writer/Director Carter Smith keeps the story moving and creates a truly unsettling atmosphere.  When researching SWALLOWED, I surprisingly discovered that I had seen another Carter Smith film.  He directed THE RUINS (2008), which is about a jolly holiday gone horrifyingly wrong by some killer greenery.  I recommend THE RUINS and not just because Jena Malone stars in it.  

In conclusion…
SWALLOWED might be one of the most disturbing films I’ve seen in a long time.  However, what isn’t shown is the most unsettling and difficult to sit through.  That being said, I enjoyed the complex characters and have watched it more than once.  So, if you’re in the mood for some queer horror, you can’t go wrong with SWALLOWED.   Just sit back, relax and unclinch your cheeks!

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S. click the pic 👇 to read about a similarly titled film…

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Dare to swallow my queer books… 📚