Though Gregg Araki’s third feature has been referred to as a “gay Thelma & Louise,” the raw ethos of leads Luke (Mike Dytri) and Jon (Craig Gilmore), both named after key French New Wave filmmakers, make this raucous punk flick more akin to a queer nouvelle vague film than a major studio production. This ultra-violent, shoegaze-driven, blissfully nihilistic road movie is also a primal scream in the direction of the mounting AIDS crisis and its accompanying cultural stigma. Shot with Araki’s then-largest budget of only $20,000, the film saw success on its festival run, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the landmark 1992 Sundance Film Festival.