Breaking Fast is a 2020 American romantic comedy film, directed by Mike Mosallam and released in 2020.[1] An expansion of Mosallam's 2015 short film of the same title, the film stars Haaz Sleiman as Mo, a gay Muslim doctor in Los Angeles who is emotionally closed off following a painful breakup with his former partner Hassan (Patrick Sabongui); on the first day of Ramadan he meets Kal (Michael Cassidy), getting to know him over nightly iftars.[2]

Breaking Fast
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMike Mosallam
Written byMike Mosallam
Produced bySarah Bazzi
Bay Dariz
Seth Hauer
Alex Lampsos
StarringHaaz Sleiman
Michael Cassidy
Amin El Gamal
Patrick Sabongui
CinematographyAnka Malatynska
Edited byMike Hugo
Music byOmar Fadel
Production
companies
Mike Mosallam Productions
Minutehand Pictures
Distributed byVertical Entertainment
Release date
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film premiered on March 7, 2020 at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival;[3] due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was screened digitally by several LGBT film festivals through the next several months. It was picked up for commercial distribution by Vertical Entertainment in August 2020.[4]

Cast

edit

Production and Release

edit

In February 2019, Deadline reported that Haaz Sleiman and Michael Cassidy had been slated to star in Breaking Fast, a gay romantic comedy about a Muslim man living in West Hollywood. It was to be based on director Mike Mosallam's 2015 short film of the same name, which had screened at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Amin El Gamal, Patrick Sabongui, Christopher J. Hanke, Brian Dare, Aline Elasmar and Veronica Cartwright were also announced as cast members.[5]

Mosallam decided to write the movie after a conversation with fellow screenwriter Michael Lannan, during which he realized there were no characters in movies or television who represented him.[6] He also intended for the movie to be a homage to classic romantic comedies, saying he envisioned the kind of movie that would star actress Julia Roberts "if, in fact, she was a gay, Muslim, Arab man living in West Hollywood, California.”[7]

In March 2020, the film made its debut at California’s Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival. It had subsequent digital screenings at other festivals such as Toronto’s Inside Out Film Festival and San Francisco’s Frameline.[8] In August 2020, it was reported that Vertical Entertainment had acquired the North American distribution rights to the movie.[9]

In December 2020, the official trailer was released.[10] The film was made available digitally and on demand on January 22, 2021.[11]

Reception

edit

Critical response

edit

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10.[12]

Accolades

edit
Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2022 GLAAD Media Awards GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Limited Release Breaking Fast Nominated [13]

References

edit
  1. ^ Andre Hereford, "Film Review: ‘Breaking Fast’ is an engaging gay rom-com". Metro Weekly, June 26, 2020.
  2. ^ Bobby LePire, "Breaking Fast". Film Threat, March 29, 2020.
  3. ^ Randy Myers, "Cinequest 2020: Here are 15 films not to miss at San Jose’s big film fest". The Mercury News, February 25, 2020.
  4. ^ Amanda N'Duka, "Vertical Acquires ‘Breaking Fast’; Malcolm Goodwin To Star In ‘They Whisper’ – Film Briefs". Deadline Hollywood, August 12, 2020.
  5. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (2019-02-08). "Haaz Sleiman & Michael Cassidy To Star In 'Breaking Fast'; Nicky Whelan Joins 'Trauma Center'; Fabien Frankel Lands Two Films". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  6. ^ "I Made Breaking Fast Because No One Else Had Ever Told My Story". www.moviemaker.com. 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  7. ^ "'Breaking Fast' Follows Gay Muslim Man Looking For Love During Ramadan". HuffPost. 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  8. ^ "'Breaking Fast' Follows Gay Muslim Man Looking For Love During Ramadan". HuffPost. 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  9. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (2020-08-12). "Vertical Acquires 'Breaking Fast'; Malcolm Goodwin To Star In 'They Whisper' – Film Briefs". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  10. ^ "'Breaking Fast' Trailer Celebrates a Gay Ramadan Rom-Com (Exclusive)". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  11. ^ "'Breaking Fast' Trailer Celebrates a Gay Ramadan Rom-Com (Exclusive)". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  12. ^ "Breaking Fast". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  13. ^ "The Nominees for the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards". GLAAD. 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
edit