Sahil, a quirky music producer in Mumbai, has hit a rough patch with his boyfriend Alex. That’s just when Sahil’s longtime friend Jai, a successful and handsome Wall Street deal maker, arrives back in India on a business trip. Jai’s visit gives Sahil the perfect excuse to drop Alex for a bit and escape for a few days’ getaway in the gorgeous countryside with Jai. While the friends enjoy their remarkable rapport at first, differences soon begin to arise — emotions and tensions bubble to the surface until they finally explode in a way that threatens to impact the lives of all three men for a long time to come.

Loev is a landmark film, honestly exploring gay relationships in India, where, to this day, same-sex love is punishable by harsh prison sentences. Writer-director Sudhanshu Saria has stated that he wrote the script to deal with a hurt he didn’t know how to process at the time — indeed, the film captures the complexity of attraction, societal disapproval, and moral ambiguity in a way that speaks of first-hand experience and insight.

The performances of all three principals are superb and nuanced, making it tragic that Dhruv Ganesh (who plays Sahil), to whom the film is dedicated, died of tuberculosis shortly after the film’s completion. That Loev marks the feature film debut of director Saria makes this beautifully photographed film all the more courageous, impressive, and compelling.