Caught

Based on actual events – those words always add a certain level to any film or short. In this case, “Caught” is a short film by Monte Patterson that captures the essence of the 1962 Mansfield, Ohio Police Department sting operation. While the location is different to that case, this short examines and mimics how similar operations were carried out – and still are. “Caught” is a brilliant short that treads the fine line between bliss and danger amid a darker, hidden area of Queer life and Queer history. Whether or not you agree with cruising and public sex today, and while the Queer community has advanced so much in the past few decades, we cannot ignore our past. Cruising and tearoom sex with strangers was the only way many closeted gay men could cope; yet because homosexuality and sodomy were illegal, those men were also targeted by the police. Monte’s powerful short film brings both facets together to tell a story. Every gay man needs to watch “Caught”.