"The Wise Kids" and "Yossi"

"The Wise Kids" (Cone Arts): Religion has been making its way into recent indie LGBT films. From disappointments such as Ash Christian's "Mangus!" to the Shumanski's "Blackmail Boys," it's a topic that isn't going away, especially in light of the way the community is treated by religious extremists. You can add Stephen Cone's amazing "The Wise Kids" (Cone Arts) to the list and place it at the top of the list as the best of the current crop.

Set in Charleston, South Carolina, in a community with strong ties to the church, "The Wise Kids" begins in April as music director Austin (Cone) is conducting rehearsals for the Passion play. One look at Austin and your gaydar will go off, in spite of the fact that he's married to Elizabeth (Sadieh Rifai). It's also obvious that Austin is in love with Tim (Tyler Ross), a gay high school senior who is heading off to the New School in New York to study film in the fall.

Tim's best friend Brea (Molly Kunz), the preacher's daughter, is totally cool about Tim being gay. The same can't be said for classmate and religious zealot Laura (Allison Torem), who virtually has a nervous breakdown when she finds out Tim is gay and of course vows to pray for him. Brea, who is going through a crisis of faith, becomes closer to Tim (even applying to and getting accepted at NYU), which puts a strain on her friendship with Laura who is, as you might suspect, going to a Christian college.

"The Wise Kids" takes us all the way through December, with stops in May and August, as the trio of friends, as well as the members of their respective families, come to terms with the changes rapidly occurring in their lives. The wonder of the film is the way that every relationship rings true. From Tim and his father (and siblings) to Brea and her father to Austin and Elizabeth and even Tim and Austin, there is never a false note. "The Wise Kids" is a brave and, yes, wise achievement. (Oct. 26-Nov. 1 @ Gene Siskel Film Center on State Street in Chicago.)

"Yossi" (Strand): If you don't know the work of gay, Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox, then you owe it to yourself to become acquainted. Not one to shy away from LGBT subject matter, Fox's breakthrough occurred with his third full-length feature. The festival favorite "Yossi & Jagger, about the romantic relationship between gay Israeli soldiers Yossi and Lior (aka Jagger) broke all sorts of new ground in the early part of the 21st century. The taut, queer thriller "Walk on Water," followed in 2004 and his masterwork, "The Bubble" came after that in 2006.

Fox's latest, the marvelous "Yossi," is a sequel, picking up a few years after "Yossi & Jagger" ended. Now a paunchy, thirtysomething heart specialist at a hospital in Tel Aviv, closeted Yossi (reprised by Ohad Knoller) is still mourning the death of Jagger, who was killed in Lebanon when they were still in the army. A workaholic loner and social outcast of his own making, Yossi rebuffs the sexual advances of Nina, as well as the persistent invitations of fellow heart doc and ladies man Moti (Lior Ashkenazi). Yossi prefers to watch porn on the Internet. A sex-site hook-up doesn't go well at all.

But when Yossi recognizes Lior's mother Varda (Orly Silbersatz), at the hospital for a test, he sets the first of a series of events in motion that will forever change him. At first pretending not to know who she is, he later inserts himself into her life, even going so far as to show up at her home, where she lives with Lior's father. It's obvious that they've never recovered from the loss of their son. When Yossi pours out his heart to them about him and Lior, in one of the film's many heartbreaking scenes, they each react differently. Lior's mother wants him out, but the father invites Yossi to see Lior's old bedroom.

The turning point occurs when Yossi runs into four young soldiers at a fast food joint who missed their bus. He offers them a ride and on the drive they bring a jolt of energy into his doughy and grey world. One soldier in particular, Tom (Oz Zehavi) forges a connection with Yossi. Enjoying their company more than he had expected, Yossi changes his plans and checks into the hotel where they are staying on their leave.

Although it has been leading up to this point from the beginning, it is here that "Yossi" comes close to evolving into an Israeli version of Tom Ford's "A Single Man." Some similarities existed all along, for example, the fact that the lead characters in both films are widowers who never overcame the loss of their great loves. But it's in the erotically charged scenes with Yossi and Tom, particularly the ones involving the beach skinny dip and what follows, that play like a heartfelt homage to Ford's adaptation of the Christopher Isherwood novel. The heart-stopping performances by Zehavi and Silbersatz, and most especially Knoller (who was also brilliant in "The Bubble") are more than reason enough to see "Yossi." ("Yossi" screens on Oct. 25 at 8:20 p.m. at the Center on Halsted Hoover Leppen-Theater, as part of the Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema. Visit chicagofestivalofisraelicinema.org or centeronhalsted.org.)