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Amos Lassen wrote on 03/31/2011:

Not many gay films have black actors in leading roles and to finally have a good film that does is almost reason to rejoice. “Parallel Sons; is the story of Seth, a youth with artistic leanings and a fascination with Black pop culture, living in a village in the Adirondack Mountains. He has a friend, Kristin with whom he alternates sensitivity and brutality. One night late as he is closing the café where he works, a young Black tries to rob him at gun point but faints from some kind of illness. Seth takes the man whose name is Knowledge and is a prison escapee, to a family cabin where he takes care of him. An intensive friendship develops between the two. When the sheriff discovers that Seth is harboring a criminal there is a confrontation.
The plot is like an old-fashioned fairy tale but unlike a fairy tale, there is an authenticity to the characters and to the town. There is an overriding feeling of depression, despair and alienation. It is an old-fashioned story with a modern sensibility and the gay biracial twist to the story plays only a secondary role to the feelings and emotions portrayed.
The parallels in the two men’s lives are based on several fundamental issues—growing up gay in a hostile society, racism, firearms, adolescent independence. When the appearance of a Black criminal shatters the town’s calm appearance, things begin to happen. The criminal had escaped from the state mental hospital and he gives Seth an outlet for his deepest yearnings. Knowledge’s escape brings the two together in both a cultural and sexual bonding.
When the movie ended I heard nothing but silence because the movie struck so hard. The movie is a year ahead of its time as it deals with important issues in a very natural way. The film is full of ideas for thought. Gabriel Mann as Seth gives an amazing performance and Laurence Mason as Knowledge is powerful. It is the acting that allows the film to be so understated. The supporting cast is also excellent as the film moves toward an ending that devastates.
The themes of the film are handled with great subtlety. The primary message seems to be that the consequences of homophobia are tremendous harm and the meaning in the film is not lost on the viewer.

Gay Movie Viewer (jamesvmorris@verizon.net) wrote on 11/13/2005:

The basic themes of this film are so subtle as to be almost imperceptible, and I will leave the individual to draw their own conclusions. Arguably, its primary message may be a simple morality tale on the consequences of both internal and external homophobia, but, like any good film, there are other lessons and conclusions to be drawn, depending upon the viewer’s own opinions and experience. The script is extremely lean, and although we are presented with enough information to make the plot crystal clear, I was thankful to the end that it avoided the clutter of too many details. The characters are drawn so skillfully, and the story told so plainly, that I was amazed at the amount of story, drama and conflict that the filmmaker was able to squeeze into 93 minutes of screen time. By the end, I was exhausted, exhilarated, outraged, moved and thoroughly satisfied. I had to think about what it all meant, but after replaying the film in my head after it was over, I sat back completely astonished at the talent of all involved in this extraordinary film.

Many of the scenes depicted in this movie would have been totally unbelievable in the hands of less skilled filmmakers. Too often films that credit both writing and directing to the same person wind up as a narrow opinion piece or worse; the sharing of both writing and directing duties frequently signifies an amateur production. Even if well produced, the result all too often comes off at best as a narcissistic indulgence. Occasionally, a film is enriched by one person assuming the dual role of screenwriter and director, as any film can indeed benefit greatly from having a director who wholly appreciates the writer’s vision. Happily, this is the case with Parallel Sons. Many times during the unfolding of the story, I caught myself musing at how ridiculous many plot points were, and at the same time, marveling at the utter believability of it all. It is also easy to misinterpret the climax as standard melodrama; it took a minute for me to realize that the tragic ending had more to do with intent than accident, and it was almost as an after thought that I managed to reconcile seemingly unimportant revelations from one key scene with the shattering climax. Suddenly the meaning of the title became clear, and my satisfaction with this gripping piece was complete. There is the danger that many will be unable to appreciate this timely and innovative story, but those who do are in for a thought provoking experience.

If I have one quibble with this picture, it was not with the film itself, but the DVD packaging. Once again we have a film that is being marketed aggressively to a gay male audience, and once again the distributors have found it necessary to place a photo of a naked muscular torso on the box, as if gay men could not consider purchasing a film for its dramatic intensity unless it also offers a naked hunk or two. In Parallel Sons, it’s absurd; there is no one in this film who remotely resembles the beefcake on the cover. I didn’t expect that there would be, and having read reviews and a synopsis of the plot before I bought it, I had no expectations of any erotic content. One more time I would like to point out that I buy comedies to laugh and documentaries to learn and dramas to be emotionally and intellectually stimulated. It’s an insult to assume that I would not purchase a film in any of these genres unless it included a generous helping of eye candy.