Sat, Aug 16th, 10:00 PM @ TCL CHINESE 6 THEATRE || #6
By Juan Markos
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/18/2025 – There’s been a lot of talk about the Grindr sound effect recently, and I love watching videos of people setting off the sound in public to see who reacts. This film captures that kind of humor, in fact, it’s hilarious!
It revolves around a repressed Italian father, Gino, played by Matthew Risch, who appears to spend far too much time in the bathroom. He lives at home with his overbearing mother, played by Academy Award nominee Cathy Moriarty, and his pregnant daughter, portrayed by Nicole Ehinger. While in the bathroom, he’s chatting with a twunk and engaging in self-pleasure. The two exchange photos, and just as the twunk demands a face picture, Gino climaxes while sending it, as if he’s getting off on exposing himself.
Returning to the chaos of his home life, which includes his meddling mother and his daughter, Gino finds himself cooking sauce in an Italian household. His mother has invited another Italian family over, hoping to find a new partner for her granddaughter’s baby. It’s comical, with everyone screaming at each other. Gino, played by Risch, whom I have an instant crush on, accidentally burns himself on the pan.
When the doorbell rings, it turns out to be the family that his mother invited, and there he is: the twunk he had previously chatted with, played by Matt Campanella who’s also the writer and director. Gino starts to sweat and feels dizzy. As the families eat, he begins hallucinating, and his hand resembles a lobster’s claw. He starts to freak out and walks away from the dinner table, retreating to a Catholic altar, where he’s later joined by the twunk who kisses him. In the midst of this, the sauce on the table explodes and splashes everyone.
The film is both funny and chaotic, shedding light on a topic that many gay men experience, being in the closet and leading closed-off lives. I suspect the twunk is also closeted since his mother brought him to meet Gino’s daughter. The acting is superb, and I would love to see this developed into a full feature film. It has a vibe reminiscent of “The Sopranos” minus the crimes mixed with “The Royal Tenenbaums.”
“Sunday Sauce” has been selected to screen at this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival in Hollywood. For tickets please visit https://www.hollyshorts.com/
