Rolando Zee’s Simmering Love starts with a young boy who refuses to be like his deadbeat father and vows never to get married, which only leads to pain and heartache along the way.
Before Jesse is even born, his very pregnant mother, Veronica (Lyndsey E. Butler), finally stands up for herself, confronting Harry (Adonis Williams) about his affairs. At first, he denies it, but then leans into it, and in frustration, he kicks her out of his moving car. When pushed to tell her story to her son, young Jesse (Ivan Troy Simonin) resolves that he’s never getting married.
Now a young man, Jesse (Rolando Zee) builds a promising career, with his best friend Florio (Patrick McDermott) always by his side. To Florio’s surprise, Jesse has been dating his current boyfriend, Osvaldo (Hugo Mejia Loera), without Florio’s knowledge. They meet outside a hardware store, where Osvaldo mistakes Jesse for a day laborer looking for work, and Jesse runs with the narrative. Over time, Osvaldo falls for him and invites him to a family gathering, where his mother, Mama Gloria (Maria Montenegro), welcomes him with open arms. Ultimately, Jesse ends up with the romance he always dreamed of — all built on a lie.
Meanwhile, Florio watches it all happen and can’t just let it slide. He pushes Jesse to come clean before the lie blows up in his face, but Jesse won’t listen. Unbeknownst to the pair, Osvaldo overhears the entire conversation between Jesse and Florio and waits for the right moment to confront Jesse.
Jesse (Rolando Zee) and Osvaldo (Hugo Mejia Loera) form a connection over a shared gift in Shane Lightner’s Judgmental Prick!
“Unbeknownst to the pair, Osvaldo overhears the entire conversation between Jesse and Florio and waits for the right moment to confront Jesse.”
Simmering Love is a proof of concept for a much bigger series. Writer/co-director/star Rolando Zee assembles three short films he previously made into a single feature, giving us one massive character arc for our protagonist — from Jesse growing up hating marriage, to struggling to find love on his own terms, to arriving full circle back at the question of marriage.
The first thing you’ll notice is that Simmering Love is a low-budget, guerrilla-level indie drama, and Zee is passionate about investing his time and energy in telling this story. There are a few rough edges. The sound mix makes it a bit all over the place, and it’ll take some patience to settle in. That said, it’s clear Zee stretches every production dollar. In the first chapter, An Old Scar, he nails that classic ’60s/’70s look and feel. Judgmental Prick! is the more modern tale. And it all comes together in Never Too Old, where an older Jesse finally comes to grips with a life spent chasing love instead of catching it. The performances hold up across all three, and Rolando, the writer, clearly knows exactly what story he wants to tell.
The best part is that Simmering Love is not stuck in the same coming-out story that LGBT films always become — this is a straight-up romance, one about the messiness of falling in love. And who doesn’t want that?
For more information, visit the Simmering Love official Facebook page.
"…a life spent chasing love instead of catching it."
