Arriving today on Hulu is “Fire Island,” the perfect sexy, smart rom-com to kick off the summer season, and the LGBTQ Pride Month of June.
“Fire Island” is a queer rom based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” which writer and star Joel Kim Booster adapted to the gay vacation destination located on Fire Island, just off the coast of Long Island, N.Y. It was a trip with co-star Bowen Yang and a copy of Austen’s novel in tow that inspired Booster to apply Austen’s razor-sharp wit and social observations to the carefree party culture there, and director Andrew Ahn delivers a film that’s fresh, funny and totally romantic.
Booster and Yang play Noah and Howie, best friends who travel to Fire Island annually with their tight-knit group, including Luke (Matt Rogers), Keegan (Tomás Matos) and Max (Torian Miller), who all crash with den mother Erin (Margaret Cho), who soon may be losing their summer pad. Adding stakes to this trip is an encounter with a group of wealthier men on the island, including the charming doctor Charlie (James Scully), for whom Howie falls, and the reticent Will (Conrad Ricamora), with whom Noah banters and tussles. It’s not hard to map the characters and beats of “Pride and Prejudice” directly onto “Fire Island,” which is part of the fun, and it just might inspire a rewatch of the classic adaptations. Joe Wright’s 2005 version, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, is a dreamy and delightful film (available to rent on all platforms), or perhaps the 1995 miniseries starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is more to your liking (stream it on Hulu or Britbox).
“Fire Island” is also a part of the grand tradition of modern Austen adaptations including Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless” (streaming on HBO Max), which transposes “Emma” to the world of vacuous teens in 1990s Beverly Hills. Pair “Clueless” with Autumn de Wilde’s arch take on Austen’s meddling matchmaker comedy, “Emma.” (2020), starring Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role, streaming on Amazon Freevee or available for rent elsewhere.
