June may be designated as Pride Month, but stories featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists should be celebrated year-round. That said, now is as good a time as any to catch filmmaker Olivia Jean Hamilton’s short film based on her own coming-out experience, called The Closet. Running a swift 5 minutes, The Closet is a good-hearted satirical comedy that addresses one woman’s declaration of bisexuality and subsequent fear of ostracization for her fluidity.

This is Me

Olympia (Amy Ward) is putting the finishing touches on a few appetizers as she prepares for her friends to come over. This isn’t just an ordinary hangout at her apartment; Olympia is planning on sharing life-changing news. Her anxiety gets the better of her as she fidgets with the grazing plate and practices grand gestures over and over again. Today, Olympia is coming out as bisexual. She’s not necessarily nervous to share the news; rather, she worries about how her judgmental gay friends will accept her new truth.

The moment of truth finally comes when her friends, Gray (Moe Dagane), Sasha (Jasmine Vaughan), and Becca (Marylynn Sienna) arrive. Olympia sits them down on her bed and, after taking a deep breath, enthusiastically walks herself out of her closet. It takes a few attempts, but eventually her friends catch on. Olympia is, quite literally, coming out of the closet. Her friends are enthusiastic, especially her queer friends Gray and Sasha. “Another gay!” they cheer, but Olympia is quick to clarify that no, she’s not technically gay, just bisexual. This small but resounding distinction is offered with an earnest yet lightly sarcastic tone. Clearly, it will take some time for Olympia to become comfortable with her new identity, but her friends prove that they love her and support her unconditionally.

Capturing the Nuance of a Life-Changing Moment

The complexity of coming out as bisexual is nuanced, and filmmaker Olivia Jean Hamilton does an excellent job capturing this moment with humor and heart. The purple pastels that Olympia decorates her apartment with, especially the food, are intentional and smartly art-directed. Using limited resources to their full advantage, Olivia flips the script on traditional stereotypes, making them her own. We see a variation on a tradition typically used in a baby gender reveal, when Olivia turns a cake into a “sexual preference reveal cake”, with the center revealing purple frosting: a mix between blue and pink. This creative adoption of mainstream gender stereotypes is a punchy statement that sends a powerful message through the lens of comedy.

Director’s Statement

“This film is based on a true story of how I came out to a group of friends in boarding school. Back in my teens, I was nervous to tell my straight friends. But now, we bisexuals are more nervous to tell our judgmental gay friends! This is a fun and quirky coming-out story that everyone can enjoy.” -Olivia Jean Hamilton, director

Takeaway

The story behind The Closet has a much deeper meaning than just showing a young woman coming out to her friends. It addresses and validates the modern-day anxiety that some bisexual people feel around their friends. A decorated film festival darling, The Closet first premiered at the 2025 Culver City Film Festival.