“This is sacred to me,” says homoerotic draftsman Touko Laaksonen to a bookbinder who hesitates on religious grounds in this fulsome biopic from director Dome Karukoski. But what “this” is isn’t entirely clear. The carefully rendered images of wildly exaggerated men having sex with each other? The profitable dissemination of high-quality jerk-off material? “You make these ‘different’ boys feel special — beautiful,” argues one ardent supporter. “You gave me life and showed me love,” attests another. But neither claim arises from what happens onscreen, and none of what Tom of Finland draws argues for homosexuality as natural and/or normal. Because it’s fantasy. So maybe what’s sacred is this: a lonely and confused young man realizing that somewhere out there, someone understands and affirms his desperate desire for gay porn. But that’s not the main story here, which focuses on Laaksonen’s desire to love and be loved in a time when such things were difficult. It’s a richly colored, gratifyingly unprettied portrait; the only trouble is, nobody’s arguing about curtains or facing public outcry in Tom of Finland’s naughty pictures. (2017) — Matthew Lickona
This movie is not currently in theaters.