The Man I Love

Plot

Set in late 1980s New York City, the film follows Jimmy George, an actor facing death from AIDS. In an effort to live his remaining life to the fullest after being hospitalized for AIDS-related pneumonia, Jimmy is determined to put on a live performance of Michel Tremblay's Once Upon a Time in the East with his group, The Mechanicals. Jimmy's AIDS affects his acting as he is the only member of the troupe who still has to reference the script in rehearsals. The group frequently congregates in Jimmy's apartment, where he lives with his boyfriend Dennis, who takes on the responsibility of caring for him and making sure that he takes his AZT medication.

Leslie, who lives downstairs, introduces her new roommate Vincent to Jimmy. Vincent quickly becomes drawn to Jimmy, befriends his group, and the two of them begin a barely-concealed affair while Jimmy and Dennis are still together.

When Jimmy's sister Brenda comes to visit with her husband, Gene, and their son, Billy, she and Jimmy go out to a drag bar. Gene takes Billy to their hotel, and when Brenda returns at the end of the night, telling Gene how great it is to see Jimmy doing so well, Gene reminds her that his health is deteriorating.

Leslie confronts Vincent over his decision to be sexually intimate when he knows Jimmy has AIDS. Dennis confronts Vincent, scolding him for treating Jimmy's condition as a game.

While attending his parents' anniversary, Jimmy asks his nephew Billy to record a message for them. It begins as gratitude and evolves into confessions of Jimmy's vices. He doesn't spare the details, and Gene stops Billy from recording further once he overhears what's being said.

Returning to New York City, Jimmy and Vincent spend another night at a club together, culminating in them having sex. However, the next morning, Jimmy abruptly abandons Vincent at breakfast, guilty that they became intimate while having AIDS, to Vincent's dismay.

When the performance of Once Upon a Time in the East is finally set to begin, Jimmy has a neurological episode on stage, succumbing to his condition despite his desire to resist. Dennis takes Jimmy to the hospital, where it becomes clear that his condition is worsening. Dennis angrily reacts when a doctor suggests that Jimmy is not getting the proper care that he needs. They spend the night together as Dennis helps bathe Jimmy.

Some time later, Vincent is alone at a gay bar, where a newcomer to New York City flirts with him, and the two eventually dance to Ronee Blakley's song "Lightning Over Water".

Production

In January 2025, Ira Sachs revealed that he would be writing and directing a new film titled The Man I Love. Sachs stated that the character of George was a conglomeration of several people, naming Ron Vawter, Frank Maya, and Ethyl Eichelberger specifically. He stated that the script took fifteen years for him and Zacharias to complete, and it was inspired by Maurice Pialat's Van Gogh. Sachs also stated that he took inspiration for elements of the story from Paul Monette's Borrowed Time as well as Andrew Holleran's writing, specifically beginning with Dancer from the Dance. Sachs provided the cast with various sources of study to aid in their understanding of the era and setting, including How to Survive a Plague, Maestro, Je Tu Il Elle, and Opening Night.

The film is produced by Big Creek Projects (Scott McGehee and David Siegel, and Mike Spreter), alongside Myriam Schroeter, Misook Doolittle, and Saïd Ben Saïd for SBS Productions. The creative team includes cinematographer Josée Deshaies, editor Affonso Gonçalves, casting director Avy Kaufman, production designer Tommy Love, and costume designer Megan Gray. The film is storyboarded by August Nandé.

Ben Whishaw had originally been expected to play Jimmy, but had scheduling conflicts. When principal photography began on September 29, 2025, in New York City, Rami Malek had been cast as Jimmy, with Tom Sturridge, Luther Ford, Rebecca Hall, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach joining the cast. French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies shot the film on 35 mm. Filming ended on October 29, 2025.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 79th Cannes Film Festival on May 20, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and the Queer Palm. It was also selected for the 73rd Sydney Film Festival in June 2026, for the Munich International Film Festival, and the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in July 2026.

The Man I Love had its North American premiere at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival, and will also screen at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, and in the Main Slate of the 2026 New York Film Festival.

Distribution

Following its Cannes premiere announcement, MK2 Films boarded the film as its international sales company, with WME Independent handling North American sales. Émilie Georges' and Alexandre Mallet-Guy's Memento Films International is set to release the film in France.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 33 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.4/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Critical reviews

Collider's Therese Lacson was impressed with the script and cinematography, especially the heightened focus on color and emotion. Lacson noted how the musical performances within the film are used to demonstrate the characters' emotions at several points, but felt that the film seemed to drag through some of these scenes. She was impressed with Malek's performance, and noted how he portrays Jimmy with respect to the two men in his life: aloof with Vincent, vulnerable with Dennis. Lacson praised Sturridge's portrayal of Dennis by calling it his "best performance to date," specifically noting how Sturridges conveys the emotion of the character when Dennis takes care of Jimmy and how he is later treated at the hospital. She did not like Vincent, nor how much the character was on screen, stating that not only did he feel more like a villain, but also that Malek and Ford had no chemistry. She rated the film an 8 out of 10.

David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised Sachs for including sensuality in his depiction of the love between Jimmy and Dennis. Rooney was impressed with both Malek's and Sturridge's performances, specifically noting how Sturridge is able to convey the dynamics of a relationship between an artist and their significant other. He also commented that the emotion that Sturridge conveys with respect to Vincent feeds the "rich vein of melancholy," as does Hall's Brenda. Rooney noted that though the film isn't a musical, it does use music to maintain the pacing. With respect to Billy recording Jimmy, Ronney indicates that it is Billy being impressionable that causes Gene to stop the recording. Rooney noted that there weren't many explosive scenes between characters, which makes the moment that Dennis confronts Vincent "all the more hard-hitting." Rooney stated that the film wasn't like previous AIDS films because it isn't about the death of the character, but about living.

Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood also noted that the film is not a musical, but that the "expertly chosen" music is an important aspect of the film. Hammond called Malek's performance "a career high," and praised Ford for bringing humanity into his role and keeping it from being one-dimensional. His only complaint about Hall was that she didn't have enough time on screen, and he was pleased to see Blanka Zizka, Stephen Adly Guirgis, and Sasha Lane as members of the theatre troupe, The Mechanicals. Hammond also praised Tommy Love for the recreation of the era. He praised the film for telling the story of what it is to give everything to art, for being "unapoloetically alive."

Audience reception

The film received a standing ovation after its debut at Cannes, with reporting varying on the length as being from "seven-plus" to ten minutes.