Movies
‘The Covenant’: A Queer-Coded Paradox
When looking for queer representation in film, we’re usually looking for ones that are unabashedly queer in their storytelling, movies that are prideful of their queer identity. Today, we’re not discussing one of those films. Instead, I want to look at a film that was trying so hard not to be queer that it became even more queer. A film that’s been reclaimed by the community it didn’t want to be a part of. Am I losing you already? This may not make sense at the moment, but The Covenant is quite the conundrum with lots to talk about.
The Covenant: A Supernatural Teen Drama
For those unaware, The Covenant is a 2006 film directed by Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Deep Blue Sea) following a coven of 4 teenage boys with supernatural witch powers. When insidious events occur following the arrival of a mysterious new student, the Sons of Ipswich (not a boy band) must unravel the secrets of their New England town and their dangerous powers before the friend group is destroyed. Well, that’s the straight synopsis.
Reading with a queer lens, the film is about a hyper-masculine guy battling to keep his queerness (powers) in check, only to be tempted by the unabashedly queer who wants to bone and steal his powers. By objective film standards, it’s not a good movie suffering from a fan-fiction caliber screenplay and an over-reliance on CGI. But I’m not here to review the film critically, but rather to pose analytical questions about the intentions behind this film being created, and if my queer theories make the film worthy of discussion at all.
A Movie With Foggy Intentions
Just by reading the synopsis and looking at a few screengrabs, the inspirations behind The Covenant are quite obvious. The film presents itself as the love child of The Craft and The Lost Boys, which can already lead to assumptions about the film. Aside from the light horror elements and sleek aesthetic, The Craft and The Lost Boys share DNA in another major category: queer subtext. The biggest question behind The Covenant getting made is who saw those 2 films as inspiration and thought, “Let’s make that, but straight and cool”.
Targeting a Misaligned Audience
Rather than target the established audiences of those films (women and the queer community), The Covenant insists on being a badass witch movie that Chris and the boys will chest bump over, as evident by the aggressive metal music and womanizing. There’s an argument that the film, based on the cast of muscular men, was aimed toward the young girls demographic. Aside from the brief swim team practice scenes and a paper-thin love story, nothing about the film would seem appealing to female audiences. Instead, The Covenant squanders a golden opportunity to make a film for the community of queer boys who wished they were witches and will lust over the smooth, shiny cast of hunks. Rather than make the subtext of The Lost Boys actual text, the film takes away the text altogether. Well, it tries to anyway.
Can’t Hide What’s Inside
Despite admitting the film is not good and being annoyed by its inception, there’s something about The Covenant I can’t help but love. The magic of camp is that it comes in two different flavors: intentional camp that tends to be over-the-top and camp that is blissfully unaware of itself. The Covenant falls firmly in the latter category, as this film is 100% trying to be serious while failing spectacularly. The stakes are hollow, the dialogue is awful, and Sebastian Stan is a whole different movie. All of the calculated missteps culminate in a delicious campy stew of hilarity, but its campiness only scratches the surface of the queerness brewing underneath.
The Power as a Queer Allegory
The Covenant is a fascinating entry to the queer horror canon in its insistence on not being queer, despite the very obvious queer metaphors presented throughout the film. Referred to simply as The Power, the magical abilities of the sexy covenant boys can easily be read as a general queer identity. The film establishes The Power has been around for centuries, but sworn to secrecy. Hiding queer feelings would make sense for these old-money families to maintain their status. Then the film takes it a step further, linking the magic abilities to the characters’ health stating that using the powers takes years off their lives and becomes more addictive the more they use it.
So not only do we have the social implications of being queer, but now we have the standard AIDS allegory to demonize queers and addicts. And of course, the main villain is portrayed as the flamboyant queer with a crush on the protagonist, willing to kill for the Gay Agenda.
By the points listed above, the queer theory of this film would be anti-queer as the film ends with the villain being slain and the Sons of Ipswich presumably keeping their queer secrets until another threat comes along. This puts me in a moral dilemma. Do we condemn Harlin & writer J.S. Cardone for recognizing the queer tropes, but choosing to ignore them, resulting in a queer-baiting effect? Or do we give them the benefit of the doubt that they were blissfully unaware in their pursuit of making a badass witch movie? It’s hard to say when the film uses distinct language like “it’s seductive” and “lust for power” when describing the magical abilities while having an absurd amount of homoerotic tension between Caleb and Chase.
Embracing Chase’s Queer Chaos
However, this ambiguity allowed the film to take on an identity of its own apart from the creators’ intention. The Covenant is as confused as the queer audience looking to see themselves in a film. The only way the film takes on a positive queer reading is if you’re rooting for the villain, and I’m not going to lie to you: I’m totally on Team Chase. The man is a bisexual menace who creates tension with the Sons of Ipswich while trying to steal their girlfriends, which is queer chaos at its finest.
And perhaps the most poignant thing the film has to offer is the way Chase’s backstory is presented, discovering his powers without close friends around him for support. With all the silliness within The Covenant, the film gives surprising empathy to Chase with the line, “do you know what it felt like growing up not knowing what this is?”. From then on, I’m rooting for Chase to take everyone’s powers. Even though Chase isn’t the most positive queer representation, he’s the only character in the film that embraces who he truly is.
Boys Will Be Witchy Boys
Once again, The Covenant is not a good film. Ignoring the oddly serious tone, wooden acting, lackluster plot, and many other factors, I believe the main fault of this film is not embracing its identity as a campy queer send-up of the films it’s trying to defy. Yet, The Covenant, still feeling queer despite everything about it trying not to be, ends up being the most queer aspect of the film. In addition to the sexy speedos, homoerotic games of foosball, and all the boys having conversations way too close to each other’s faces. All this to say, there is a lot of fun in this silly witch movie if you’re willing to embrace its true identity. The queer community reclaiming The Covenant out of spite would be the most badass aspect of a film that is trying oh so hard to be straight.
Shudder knows summer is the perfect time to watch scary things in air-conditioned places. Which is why the beloved streamer is giving us newer movies like Heresy, Whistle, This is Not a Test, and Smothered. While it’s always fun to see recent titles arrive alongside classics and deep cuts, my eye isn’t on the films this month. Most of my picks this May are television series and documentaries. Maybe that means I want longer comments with my media and an open library. Or perhaps I’m just reminding myself that I’m a cool nerd and making it your problem too. Whatever the case may be, I have curated another list of titles that I believe deserve our attention. Check out my top five priorities while surfing our favorite streamer below.
Tales From the Crypt (1989 – 1996)
Our beloved 90s anthology is finally making its way to our most cherished streamer. As someone who hasn’t seen Tales From the Crypt since I was a tyke, I’m so giddy that I get to watch it as an adult. More importantly, I get to binge it as John Kassir (the voice of our favorite ghoul) intended. I have been floating since this news was announced at the Overlook Film Festival in April. My insomnia and my Crypt Keeper are about to be reunited, and all is going to be alright in my little world. Come for the celebrities and stay for the puns and wicked deaths. I sincerely hope you call out of work each Friday as a new season gets added to Shudder.
You can watch Tales From the Crypt: Season 1 on May 1st. Subsequent seasons will premiere on Fridays, concluding with Season 7 on June 12
Horror Noire: History of Black Horror (2019)
Based on Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman’s book of the same name, Horror Noire: History of Black Horror is simply that girl. It unpacks the complicated history of Black people in the genre with humor, honesty, and heart. It even gets into the conversations no one seems to want to have and makes room for Black horror icons to actually be heard for once. You could hear the record scratch on Bluesky when this Shudder Original disappeared a few months ago. So, we can all rest easy knowing that it’s coming back home and we can continue to have it in our regular rotation. Horror Noire made many of us feel seen and made us better cinephiles and critics. It’s worth the Shudder subscription on its own if we’re being completely honest.
You can watch Horror Noire: History of Black Horror on May 4th.
The Terror: Devil in Silver (2026)
Your favorite unsettlingly stoic anthology has returned for a new season, and this time, Dan Stevens is in the mix. Stevens plays Pepper, a man with bad luck and a bad temper who gets himself committed to a psychiatric hospital. Any horror fan knows that’s the recipe for many horror bangers, and that’s why I will be sat. The cast also includes CCH Pounder, Judith Light, and Marin Ireland. However, my heart belongs to Karyn Kusama, who is in the director’s chair and the queen of tension. As a Momma Kusma stan account, I am so ready for her to raise my blood pressure and send me to the ER. The demonic duo of AMC+ and Shudder is cooking with this one.
You can watch episode one of The Terror: Devil in Silver on May 7th. Subsequent episodes will premiere weekly, concluding with the season finale on June 11th.
In Search of Darkness 1990-1994 (2024)
We all love to see our faves get together and discuss the horror eras we have romanticized. Which is why watching genre royalty unpack the “lost” decade of horror is something we all probably want to see. As a 90s kid, I feel like we ate pretty well in my day. So, I want to collect all of these stories like infinity stones. Some of the faces we can expect to see are Heather Langenkamp, John Carpenter, Frank Henenlotter, Tim Balme, and Michael Gross. My little nerd heart could bust, and I am happy Shudder is opening the library this May.
You can watch episode one of In Search of Darkness 1990-1994 on May 11th.
Something Is About to Happen (2023)
Things take a turn for a woman who loses her job as a computer programmer. The only movie in my roundup this month goes to the one I perhaps know the least about. Truthfully, I am just here for horror movies about women going through it. Excuse me as I gesture to the world and my bank account. More importantly, Spanish-language horror rarely fails me. So, I am willing to look past the two-hour and two-minute runtime. I am ignoring that it is listed as a romantic horror. I’m doing this because I expect my kind of chaos, and I hope I am right. From one down girl to another, I am rooting for this character on sight.
You can watch episode one of Something Is About to Happen on May 15th.
That is what I plan to use my Shudder Saturdays for this month. Let us know what you’re plotting to hit play on in the comments because we’re nosy.
Is anyone else remembering we have movies at home and logging in a lot of Netflix hours this spring? I know I am, and I keep finding more hidden treasures on this app. They collect so much international media and never tell us they have it. I find this frustrating as I pull up late to things I’m probably going to love. Quite a few foreign films make it into my lineup this month. Two of them I have never heard of before and are newer titles that should be getting some attention, in case they’re some of the best of their respective years. One is French, and we all need to revisit it for reasons that I’ll explain later.
Another thing worth noting about Netflix’s recent additions is an American show called Man on Fire. This serialized adaptation of A. J. Quinnell’s novel of the same name stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. He’ll be playing the character my generation associates with Denzel Washington because of the 2004 film adaptation. As a nerd who has been wondering why Yahya hasn’t been on my screen for a minute, I will probably have finished binging this before you even make it to the end of this article. I digress! Here are the five movies I plan to watch this month on Netflix!
180 (2026)
An act of road rage leaves a young boy in critical condition and his father seeking revenge. As usual, Netflix has not really advertised this South African thriller. However, I love revenge and am always game for a new release. So, I’m happy the powers that be put this in the recent lineup. It looks good, which gives me hope that this is going to be a gritty and bloody adventure. Fingers crossed, a few of you also hit play on this one because I’d like more quality South African thrillers that are easily accessible in America. I’m tired of hunting them down years after the fact.
Benedetta (2021)
A nun has religious visions that threaten the core of the Church while she is also having a secret affair in the 17th century. You are probably confused as to why Paul Verhoeven’s French psychological romantic drama is in my Netflix round-up. Especially if you clocked the long run time, and now I love a 90-minute or less movie. Listen! If you give me a nun having visions and having a lesbian affair in a period piece, it is my sworn duty to tell everybody. It is also my job to rewatch it for reasons. Don’t say I never did anything for you!
Him (2025)
A young athlete discovers why you should never meet your heroes when he is invited to train with a football legend. People were way too mean to this movie. It’s giving Neon Demon and Black Swan for Black male athletes. It’s not perfect, but the aesthetics and vibes are on 10. More importantly, Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers deliver some pretty fantastic performances that keep you locked in. I’m excited to revisit it and see if I like it more (or less) than when I caught it in theaters. Hopefully, more people will do the same now that the more biased discourse has died down.
Mudborn (2025)
A spirit terrorizes a video-game designer and his pregnant wife. I have no idea what to expect from Meng-Ju Shieh’s Mandarin supernatural horror film. However, I’m excited to see what this spirit is about. Again, Netflix continues to drop the ball on advertising international films. So, it’s up to us to find it in the streets and raise the alarm. In a perfect world, this movie will be the nightmare fuel I’m always seeking out. However, at the end of the day, I’m just happy to show up and support international films helmed by people of color. It’s a win-win situation, however I look at it.
Scream (2022)
A new Ghostface is terrorizing Woodsboro 25 years after the original killing spree rocked the town. As a Wes Craven stan account and fan of Radio Silence, I was so happy this movie turned out awesome. I can still say this is one of my favorite horror wins of this decade because it showed this franchise still had some life in it. It also introduced us to our Core Four, led by my new favorite final girl, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera). As someone who enjoyed these first six movies, I will always clear my schedule for a marathon and am happy to see Scream (2022) on Netflix this month. I plan to rewatch it and continue being salty that I will never know how this new trilogy was supposed to end.
That’s what I have this month. Happy Netflixing to each and every one of you!
