Long before Heartstopper melted hearts or Love, Simon brought a gay teen romance to multiplex audiences, there was Get Real. Released in 1998 with the unforgettable tagline, “Boy meets boy. Boy likes boy. Boy, oh boy. School’s out and so is Steven Carter,” the British coming of age film quietly became a cult favorite for LGBTQ+ audiences searching for stories that actually reflected their lives.
Directed by Simon Shore and adapted from Patrick Wilde’s play What’s Wrong with Angry?, Get Real follows Steven Carter, played by Ben Silverstone, as he navigates first love, school life, family expectations, and the pressure of growing up gay in late 1990s Britain. Opposite him is Brad Gorton as John Dixon, the school’s popular golden boy whose own fears make their relationship anything but straightforward.
A Snapshot of Growing Up Gay in the 90s
There is something wonderfully unpolished about Get Real. It captures an era before smartphones, social media, and dating apps changed the way young people connected. There were no disappearing messages or carefully curated Instagram stories. Every conversation happened face to face, every glance across the classroom carried weight, and every secret felt enormous.
Steven and John stumble through awkward locker room encounters, stolen moments in the woods, and all the messy uncertainty that comes with first love. It is clumsy, emotional, and sometimes frustrating, but that honesty is exactly what makes the film resonate decades later.
For many gay men who came of age in the 1990s, those feelings are instantly recognizable. The fear of being found out, the excitement of a crush, and the hope that someone else might feel the same all unfold with remarkable sincerity.
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A Cult Classic That Still Finds New Fans
One of the joys of Get Real is that it continues to connect with younger audiences discovering it for the first time. Even in a world filled with bigger LGBTQ+ productions, its emotional core remains timeless.
Online reactions speak for themselves.
“This 90s gay movie just broke me in the best way and no one warned me.”
“Not ashamed to admit I teared up. It’s earned, hopeful without being saccharine, and keeps you rooting for both of them.”
That balance between heartbreak and hope is what has allowed Get Real to age so gracefully. It never tries to be flashy. Instead, it focuses on characters who feel authentic, flawed, and deeply human.
The Perfect Throwback Watch
Whether you watched Get Real when it first arrived in the late 1990s or somehow missed it entirely, it remains one of those rare queer films that deserves another moment in the spotlight.
If you are looking for something new, or perhaps something old that still feels fresh, this cult classic is well worth revisiting. Put it on your television, settle into your favorite spot on the couch, kick your feet up, and let yourself be transported back to a time when first love felt impossibly complicated, painfully awkward, and completely unforgettable.
Some stories never stop feeling real. Get Real is one of them.