Gay Pirate Romance, Yes Please!

I have so much to watch and a decreasing amount of time in which to watch it. My calendar has been filling up with concerts, vacations, art exhibits, brunches, weddings...when am I going to find the time for my one true love, sitting on the couch in my pajamas?

But when I found out that there was a pirate comedy romance starring Taika Watiti on HBO, I knew I had no choice but to bump it to the top of my priority list. Who cares about spending time with your friends and family when you could be watching hilarious New Zealanders fall in love?

Our Flag Means Death opens with Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), a foppish rich man who threw away his wealth, abandoned his family, and ran off to sail the high seas in search of romantic adventure. And he's determined to find it, despite his surly, mutinous crew and utter lack of knowledge about ships, piracy, or the sea. On an ill-conceived adventure he encounters Blackbeard (Taika Watiti), the legendary pirate who is feared and admired across the seven seas...who is also kind of bored of pirating. Blackbeard finds himself fascinated with this soft, gentle man who turns out to have his own kind of strengths. Stede, in turn, finds that Blackbeard is more than the monster he's made out to be. Even as the two grow closer, their separate worlds are trying to tear them apart.

So you've got the romance and the high-seas adventure, but what makes this a sure-fire watch is the humor. Taika Watiti directed Thor: Ragnarok as well as the truly wonderful film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and his signature brand of gentle bemusement is very much on display. While he's wonderful (and sexy) as Blackbeard, the whole cast is filled with lovable weirdos who get lots of little stories of their own. There's jokes packed into every scene, and lots of plotlines that unfold in surprising and hilarious ways. This comedic tone never clashes with the more serious scenes. There's a fair bit of pirate violence and a couple of on-screen deaths, but nothing I would consider abnormal for a show about people who use swords on the regular. It's seriously charming, laugh-out-loud funny, and has a genuinely moving central romance. What more could you need?

Well, it turns out that what I needed was the return of The Great Pottery Throwdown, also on HBO. It's basically the Great British Baking Show, but with pottery. All the contestants are adorable creative dorks and the host regularly cries at the beauty of pottery, it's delightful.

What’s your favorite MM romance? Let me know at lilycahillwrites@gmail.com.