WATCH: Tired of headless torsos on Grindr, twink jets off to Buenos Aires on wild quest for real connection

Amidst some major shake-ups at Grindr HQ, we’ve been thinking a lot about how much the LGBTQ+ social networking app has changed the way we meet, court, and communicate with others.

In many ways, it’s easier than ever to connect within the community (especially if your idea of “connecting” is a quick, no-strings-attached intimate rendezvous), but apps like Grindr also allow people to hide a lot behind the screen and our collective emphasis on the virtual worlds they create can make the real-world feel even more isolating.

How about we take this to the next level?

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That modern-day paradox—when everything’s at your fingertips, yet really connection feels so out of reach—is at the heart of the new queer Spanish-language drama A Few Feet Away, the feature debut from Argentine writer-director Tadeo Pestaña Caro.

In bustling Buenos Aires, 20-year-old Santiago (Max Suen) is a self-identifying twink who has no trouble getting attention on the apps: He’s cute, young, and has an adventurous personality that pops through the screen.

But just because the “hey” message come flying at him fast-and-furious on Grindr doesn’t mean he’s entirely happy with the direction his romantic life is taking. Shots of bare torsos have their thrill, though sooner or later you’ll find yourself curious about the rest of the human attached.

So, one night, Santiago challenges himself to look beyond his phone screen, and sets out into the city in search of real connection—whatever that feels like. As he traverses the nightlife scene from dance venues to sex clubs, each interaction with an old friend or new potential hook-up has him pondering what it means to be intimate with someone.

Because there are plenty of cute guys a mere “few feet away,” but whatever it is he’s really looking for seems to be just out of reach.

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“A Few Feet Away is about how lonely it can feel to live in a world where everything—and everyone—is just a scroll away,” filmmaker Pestaña Caro share sin a press statement. “It’s a queer story about trying to figure out who you are at a time when everyone seems to be performing a version of themselves online.”

Just 29-years-old himself, Pestaña Caro channels many of his own musings about romance and connection into Santiago’s journey over one wild night, which doubles as an insider’s view into Buenos Aires’ colorful nightlife, where he’s spent many of his formative years.

The film first premiered at the BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival and later screened at Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, earning a warm reception at each.

“Seeing A Few Feet Away reach North American audiences after its world premiere in London is both thrilling and humbling,” the filmmaker adds. “As a 29-year-old filmmaker from Argentina, I hold onto the belief that cinema is still a universal language—one that connects us through shared struggles and self-discovery, especially as queer voices are increasingly under threat.”

And now it’s receiving a proper stateside release courtesy of LGBTQ+ specialty distributor Cinephobia, which hails the film as an intelligent, “modern look at gay love, sexual longing and the search for Mr. Right, or at least Mr. Night.”

Tadeo Pestaña Caro’s A Few Feet Away will arrive on digital/VOD platforms on December 9, and will also be available in “Unrated Director’s Cut” form on DVD that same day. Check out the film’s first international trailer below:

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