Invisible Boys

🤩 Invisible Boys, dir. Nicholas Verso, 2025, Australia, 10 half-hour episodes
episodes 1 – 5, Saturday, June 20, 2026, 6:00 PM, Roxie Theater
episodes 6 – 10, Saturday, June 27, 2026, 3:00 PM, Roxie Theater
🇺🇳 International premiere
⚠️🔞 Homophobic language and violence, drug use, sexual content, self-harm

Invisible Boys

Frameline blurb: A group of tangentially-connected gay teenagers in the remote coastal town of Geraldton, Western Australia, encounter the thrills and devastations of first love and sexual discovery set against the backdrop of Australia voting to legalize same-sex marriage in 2017. Catch the all 10 episodes of your next gay TV obsession — a YA limited series chock-full of hot sex, high drama, and plenty of Aussie charm.

With his blue hair and punk aesthetic, Charlie (Joseph Zada of the upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping) has never felt at home in Geraldton, but when he’s outed on social media after hooking up with a married man, he becomes the talk of the conservative town and starts to feel like “the only gay in the village.” But as the country debates allowing gays to marry, Charlie will cross paths with three fellow queers his age — First Nations footy star Hammer (Zach Blampied), horny wallflower Zeke (pop star Aydan Calafiore), and dreamy farm boy Matt (Joe Klocek) — each grappling with their own sexuality and identity. Based on the debut, award-winning novel by Holden Sheppard of the same name, Invisible Boys follows in the great tradition of gay YA series like Heartstopper and Love, Victor, so don’t miss this bingeable Australian gem at Frameline50!

My take: I had planned to watch these ten episodes in at least two or three sittings, but the story was so compelling, I finished it in one sitting, with only a break for dinner. The acting and general production values are top-notch, and the story runs the gamut of emotions, of course with an emphasis on teen angst. Indeed, most of the parents are contemptible foils for that angst, unworthy of their great kids. The real emotional payoff is in the second half, but it will make much more sense if you’ve seen the first half. Taking two 2½-hour chunks out of consecutive Saturdays is a big ask, but this series is a must see. I’m generally in the “take it or leave it” camp on most of the Hunger Games franchise, but I may just have to catch the next one, just for Joseph Zada (Charlie, the boy with dyed hair).

The historical context of the story is also notable: in 2017, Australia held a national voluntary “postal survey” (strictly speaking, not a referendum) on same-sex marriage from 2017-09-12 to 2017-11-07, with results announced 2017-11-15. The vote was 61.6% in favor, with nearly 80% voter turnout. The only electoral districts where the majority opposed same-sex marriage were in rural western Queensland and a few specific suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. The district including Geraldton (and more than half the land area of Western Australia) voted between 57½% and 60% in favor.

The sex scenes are very much in the category of “all but explicit,” meaning that there’s no doubt exactly what the characters are doing, but you don’t quite get the full picture. In U.S. terms, it’s well into R-rated, but not X. There is some drug use, including some chemsex, but it’s not a central plot element. There is a self-harm plotline late in the series, deep enough that episode 9, “Bees,” is prefaced with a PSA for Australia’s suicide hotline, 13 11 14; if you feel triggered by that bit of the show, the U.S./‌Canadian equivalent is 988. But if those caveats don’t dissuade you, definitely watch this show. If you miss it at Frameline, you can stream it on Stan.com.au (subscription service, starting at AUD$12/month, about USD$8.50). No plans have been announced yet for U.S. distribution.

Footnote: Geographic reference: Geraldton is on the west coast of Australia, about 400 km north of Perth. The next nearest major city is Adelaide, nearly 3,000 km to the east, and Sydney is over 4,000 km.

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