HBO Max's Billy Porter-narrated docuseries Equal finds a totally fresh way to show LGBTQ progress before Stonewall

The Hollywood Reporter

The HBO Max four-part docuseries covers about 25 years of LGBTQ history, from the post-World War II period to the first Pride parade in 1970. "But Equal is just as notable for its old-school-MTV style as for its content," says Inkoo Kang. "Visually busy and winkingly self-aware, the documentary slicks each one of its subjects with a one-dimensional rebellious cool that initially feels fresh, then increasingly ahistorical. The directors boast 'never-before-seen footage of actual events,' but more striking still is the fact that not a single shot lasts more than five seconds. And many of the subjects receive knowingly outrageous glow-ups, like Mattachine founder Dale Jennings, who’s played in reenactments by a monologuing, absurdly handsome Cheyenne Jackson. Samira Wiley, Anthony Rapp, Sara Gilbert, Theo Germaine and Keiynan Lonsdale are among the other camera-addressing celebrity soliloquists. The stronger performances — especially by Wiley, Lonsdale and Alexandra Grey as Hicks — make this potential abuse of dramatic license pay off. Even Porter gets in on the genre-convention-busting fun." ALSO: Documentarian Stephen Kijak says "we’re slipping in and out of strict documentary and impressionistic creative recreations but we wanted to bring the history as close to people and bring it to life in a unique way."