Wow, This Rivalry is Heated.
Film Review ★ C.L. Wages ★ @soundslikecl ★ 5 Minutes
Breaking News: Queerness is taking over the world. Just kidding… Kind of.
If you’re on any kind of social media or around any queer population at all, you’ve probably heard of Heated Rivalry, a queer TV show from a Canadian network called ‘Crave,’ and later picked up by HBO Max. Based on the second book in the original series Game Changers, written by Rachel Ried, Heated Rivalry was adapted and screenwritten by Jacob Tierney, known for his work on the hit series LetterKenny. The book and the show alike are written with such depth that it’s easy to fall into the storyline and wrap the worldbuilding around yourself.
This show has taken the world by storm with its combination of sports, forbidden love, and good old-fashioned sex, which we all know sells. The show has blown up in the media, catching people's attention with its raunchy scenes. Despite the show’s hook being as salacious as it is, the storyline is heartbreakingly beautiful, but we’ll dive into that more later.
Before we get into the show itself, let's talk logistics. The show was filmed on just two cameras, both of them being ARRI ALEXA 35 Cameras, and used a Panavision anamorphic lens, which is evident in a few panoramic shots in which the walls curve inwards, as well as by the presence of the telling lines that occasionally stretched across our screens. Tierney, director of the show, made great use of the lighting and gave the show a ‘full-fat,’ rich color with beautiful contrasts and warm tones. It made the whole show feel so much more… Real, in a way. Despite working with a smaller budget, Tierney and their crew used their resources and sets in a way that the budget wasn’t something that most viewers, including myself, even noticed until it was brought up in an interview post-production and release.
Now onto the viewing aspects. The two leading characters are Shane Hollander, a half Japenese young man, played by Canadian actor Hudson Williams, and rival/love interest Ilya Rozaonv, played by American actor Connor Storrie. The show follows their journey as young rookies newly drafted into the NHL on rival teams, and asks the question ‘what would happen if these two fell in love very slowly, and then all at once over the course of ten years?’ Williams and Storrie are brilliant actors and have done a fantastic job at portraying the complex emotions that come with breaking into stardom and falling in love with someone at the same time. It’s honestly a modern-day Romeo and Juliet that, spoiler alert: doesn’t end with death. (Well, at least for now).
We get to see their story develop in small vignettes as the two characters cross paths at games, competitions, and award shows, and make the short segments they have with each other count. We are introduced to the character of 17-year-old Ilya Rozanov, a cocky Russian phenom who’s counting on being the first draft pick of the NHL. Shortly after that, we meet Shane Hollander, similar in age to his counterpart, as he introduces himself to the Russian. We quickly learn the dynamic of the two, Rozanov being the sharp-tongued menace, and Hollander being the soft-spoken, victory-driven player. This dynamic remains the same even as the characters develop more depth throughout the show.
(left to right) Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov
Comparing the actors to the characters they portray is kind of wild. Williams and Storrie both have captured their characters so well that they quite literally transform into them, especially for Storrie, as his character features a heavy Russian accent and often speaks the native language throughout the show. I have to give props to Williams, too, as he is able to portray a character who has been confirmed as on the ASD spectrum with an amazing amount of grace and complexity. These two work so well and have such chemistry together that when watching interviews, it's easy to forget that these guys aren’t actually in love, like their characters are.
The first season moves fast, but slowly at the same time. As I mentioned previously, we see these snapshots of Rozanov and Hollander meeting up over the years, starting in 2008 and ending in 2017. Throughout the show, the main theme is the secret, if anyone finds out what they’re doing… Lights out, their careers are over. We as viewers witness the navigation of something that starts as casual sex, something easy to detach from, that somehow turns into something deeper, something that seems a lot like love, which is an emotion that is much harder to keep quiet. Neither of the two admits it to the other, but the feelings that they hold for each other are obvious, and we get to see both of their walls crack and fall away as they fall in love. It truly is a beautiful storyline, one that, personally, I think should not be reduced to just sex.
There’s pro’s and cons to a queer TV show gaining popularity in mainstream media. First, it brings new audiences and understanding to queer stories and very real issues that people face; on that same token, a show that features gay sex so unashamedly is going to be subject to fetishization. It’s easy to write this story off as something to get off to, which I’ve witnessed a lot of straight viewers doing. It’s important to view this show in its complexity; it’s not just about the sex, it’s about falling in love, and for queer people, that comes with a lot of fear, especially for queer people who are in the public eye.
That’s a big reason I wanted to write this review: to help people understand just how important it is to pay attention to the actual story and not just how hot these two guys look when they’re bumping and grinding against each other. With the political climate of the world, especially in the United States, wherein officials are ramping up their hatred once again, queer joy is part of the war, and living in and supporting queer joy is one of the best things an ally can do.
For my final thoughts: If you’re going to watch the show, watch it. Watch the story, experience the love, witness the themes, and the fear that these two characters experience because it’s real. For so many people, this story is real, and no, I don’t mean hockey rivals (I mean, could be, but who am I to know that?), I mean the depth of it. Shows like this can do so much for the world, but they can also cause the flanderization of people's real stories when people don’t look past the surface level. Understand this show for what it is, because it's beautiful. And go read the book series its based on.
That’s all, folks. Support your local queer! Love, C.L.
