The AIDS epidemic at its height in the 1980s has been examined from nearly every possible angle. No matter the perspective, the story almost always reaches the same devastating conclusion. But Ira Sachs, whose films often linger in the quiet, intimate moments of artists and their everyday lives, takes a different approach with his latest feature, The Man I Love. Even though the words AIDS and HIV are never spoken outright, their presence hangs over the film from beginning to end as he paints a tragic, yet beautiful, picture of life during the AIDS epidemic.
Jimmy (Rami Malek, Bohemian Rapsody) is a theatre actor battling AIDS during the 1980s in New York City. Realizing that his time is coming, he decides to put on one last great performance to submit his art into the history books.
From its opening moments, it becomes clear that Sachs (Passages) has little interest in making a film directly about AIDS. He is not concerned with the mechanics of the disease, the suffering of a diagnosis, or the expected reactions from family and loved ones. Many films centred around AIDS frame their characters as a dead man walking as they wait for death to arrive at their doorstep. The Man I Love refuses that perspective entirely. Instead, Sachs fills the film with life, intimacy, creativity, tenderness, and temptation. In doing so, he transforms what could have been another tragedy into a much more human story. It’s a celebration of art, love, and the fragile beauty of living that people like Jimmy experienced during that period.
Jimmy, played by Malek in what may be the strongest performance of his career, is an eccentric artist who moves through life with theatrical confidence and emotional openness. He refuses to let his terminal diagnosis define his work and the way he chooses to live his life. Jimmy is charismatic, vulnerable, gentle, and at times recklessly self-destructive. When he is not preparing for what may be his final performance, he spends his nights drifting through parties until sunrise. By his side is his partner Dennis (Tom Sturridge, Buzzkill Chainsaw), whose patience slowly gives way to frustration as Jimmy continues to spiral during his final weeks. At the same time, Jimmy begins an affair with the younger Vincent (Luther Ford, The Crown), another restless soul who shares his indifference towards the virus. Through quiet conversations, fleeting moments of affection, and a shared devotion to art, the film follows Jimmy and his loved one as he moves toward the end of his life, slowly accepting that his time is near.
By avoiding the usual clichés that often define films set during the AIDS epidemic, The Man I Love manages to feel surprisingly refreshing. Rather than framing its characters through constant suffering or inevitable tragedy, Sachs approaches the story with warmth, intimacy, and an overwhelming sense of humanity. The film is less about death and more about the beauty of living in spite of it. Through quiet conversations, tender relationships, artistic expression, and fleeting moments of joy, Sachs crafts something soft, restrained, and deeply moving. Watching Jimmy and the people around him come together to celebrate not only his life, but also the art he leaves behind, gives the film an emotional weight that many works fail to capture.
The Man I Love ultimately succeeds because it refuses to reduce its characters to their illness. Sachs understands that even in the face of death, people still care, still love, still desire connection, and still find beauty in the world around them. His natural style lets Malek’s performance anchor the film in humanity. The film feels less like a tragedy and more like a love letter to artists, lovers, and the communities that hold them together during their darkest moments. It’s soft-spoken, deeply human, and one of the most emotionally resonant films about life during the AIDS epidemic in years.
