For this week on Out Takes, we explored how loneliness and companionship take shape in queer cinema: think new queer cinema classics like MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, literary masterpieces like A SINGLE MAN, and John Butler’s PAPI CHULO.

PAPI CHULO centres around Sean (Matt Bomer), a newly-single TV weatherman who is put on leave following an on-air meltdown, so he directs his energy into home improvement and hires a middle-aged Latino day laborer named Ernesto (Alejandro Patiño) to help. Despite a language barrier and having nothing in common, the two men develop an unexpected but profound friendship.

Our guest was PAPI CHULO director John Butler, who joined us last year when his charming take on friendship, HANDSOME DEVIL, first hit cinemas. We spoke with Butler about how his films mediate the queer experience of lonliness and friendship, and where PAPI CHULO sits in the queer canon.