We’ve been into short films recently. There’s something beautiful about the distillation of a concept or idea into a bite-sized form that’s purely a rich narrative with no fluff around the edges. And that’s what we see in One Man Army’s new short, Kid Prosper. The 30-minute movie tells the tale of a closeted pastor, whose world is upended when he’s threatened by a mysterious note left by someone who claims to know the truth about him. We wish we could do Kid Prosper justice by describing it in words, but it’s really a wild ride that needs to be watched. Its flurry of palpable religious anxiety, shocking twists and turns, and… the Gay Mafia, leaves us hanging on for dear life as we navigate the tale. But, beneath that, there’s a really sincere and poignantly human narrative about knowing oneself and what true righteousness looks like. You can watch Kid Prosper in full below—but just as a note, there are strong themes of violence and sexuality in the short.
The synopsis for Kid Prosper simply shares, “After a closeted pastor receives a mysterious note threatening to expose him, he goes to brutal lengths to keep his secret hidden.” But as we mentioned, there’s a lot more to the narrative than that. We applaud the actors and creators for such a well-done piece, with some incredible acting and a very unique cinematic style and point of view. The subtlety of the satire, juxtaposed with the intensity of the violence, all wrapped up in a heartfelt look at the inner psyche of the human soul, really worked well.
Too often, queer movies and projects come in the same kinds of flavor and feeling. But Kid Prosper takes us into a whole new place of queer cinema, which we always love to experience. We feel that movies spotlighting queer folks deserve to have as wide a depth and breadth as possible. And Kid Prosper helps move that kind of expected “in the closet” narrative down a novel path with a new type of character we don’t often get to see at center.
We can’t wait to see what One Man Army does next.
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