''When Boys Fly'' is a 2002

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

circuit parties A circuit party is a large dance event. It extends through the night and into the following day, almost always with a number of affiliated events in the days leading up to and following the main event. Proto-circuit parties in the late 1970s, t ...

directed by

Stewart Halpern Stewart may refer to: People *Stewart (name), Scottish surname and given name *Clan Stewart, a Scottish clan *Clan Stewart of Appin, a Scottish clan Places Canada *Stewart, British Columbia *Stewart Township, Nipissing District, Ontario (histor ...

and Lenid Rolov.Steven Paul Davies The documentary played a number of gay and lesbian

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

s before being released on Region 1

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

on November 26, 2002.

Synopsis

The film follows several attendees of the annual

White Party A circuit party is a large dance event. It extends through the night and into the following day, almost always with a number of affiliated events in the days leading up to and following the main event. Proto-circuit parties in the late 1970s, t ...

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. The major subjects are: * Tone, a 21-year-old from

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. Tone has attended several previous circuit parties and has gotten in trouble with out of control

recreational drug Recreational drug use indicates the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime by modifying the perceptions and emotions of the user. When a ...

usage. His stated goal is to become a biology teacher but despite having enough college credits to be a senior he has no major. His roommate Scott is very concerned about his drug use and has delivered an ultimatum: if he "fucks up" at the White Party he will be thrown out of the house and out of his roommates' lives. * Brandon, a 23-year-old

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

student who's never been to a circuit party before. He is a friend of Tone's and they travel to the party together. Brandon is very firm in his decision not to use drugs at the party and worries that he will be ostracized at the party for his decision. * Floridians Jon, Jason and Todd. Jon is 19 years old. Jason is in his early 20s. Todd is in his mid 30s. Jon and Todd have been dating for two years. Before they dated, Todd and Jason dated. Initially there was tension between Jason and Jon but now they are best friends. The only reason Jon agreed to attend was that Todd promised that Jon would be the focus of all of Todd's attention.

Pre-party

Brandon loses track of Tone, who is unconcerned as he seeks out his "circuit friends." Brandon meets Greg, his boyfriend Jeff, and some of his friends and they shop for party outfits. Greg and his group think Brandon is cool, but Brandon initially thinks Greg is a "typical shallow circuit type." As he gets to know them better he realizes that Greg (who was earning his PhD in Psychology at

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and planned to enter academia) is deeper than he first thought. Jon and Todd tell of their traumatic experience with the illegal party drug

GHB ''gamma''-Hydroxybutyric acid (or γ-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), also known as 4-hydroxybutanoic acid) is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter and a depressant drug. It is a precursor to GABA, glutamate, and glycine in certain brain areas. ...

at a previous party. After taking a normal dose, both of them stopped breathing within 30 minutes and were hospitalized on respirators for several days.

At the party

Tone is staying sober and not having fun. He meets his friend Matt, who feeds him GHB, rationalizing that if he is the one dosing Tone then Matt can control and monitor his usage. Jon catches Todd "fucking around" with another man and breaks up with him on the spot. Despite having observed Jon and Todd's bad reactions to GHB, Jason decides to take some. He ends up passed out and Jon and Todd take care of him. Brandon stays true to his decision to stay off drugs. His fears of ostracism prove to be unfounded.

Post-party

Following their return home, Jon and Todd no longer speak. Several months after the party, Brandon has met a boyfriend and brought him home to meet his mother. Tone continued to party and do drugs until he suffered a mild

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

at age 22. Scott nursed him back to health. Tone entered a rehab center and as of the release date of the film remained clean and sober.

References

External links

''When Boys Fly'' at the Internet Movie Database
{{Portal bar, Film, LGBT, United States 2002 films 2002 LGBT-related films American LGBT-related films Circuit parties Documentary films about gay men Films set in California 2000s English-language films 2000s American films