QFest enters its second and final weekend

The actor and somewhat reluctant cross-dresser Divine gets his own Great Man documentary.
Credit: Philadelphia Cinema Alliance

This year’s QFest is drawing to a close, but there are still worthwhile (and non-worthwhile) products, including profiles of Philadelphia’s own porn star/entrepreneur Kevin Mines and the actor/performer Divine. Capsules by Gary M. Kramer unless otherwise noted.

‘Animals’
3 Globes
“Animals” is a fantastic — as in unreal; it is far from outstanding — study of animal and human nature. Pol (Oriol Pla) is a Spanish teen at an English-language school who is still communicating with his imaginary friend, Deerhoof, an animated teddy bear. After a classmate disappears, and Pol acts on his attraction to a mysterious new student, Ikari (Augustus Prew) — who enjoys cutting Pol as much as kissing him — his reality and fantasy worlds blur further. “Animals” certainly makes vivid connections between coming-of-age, sexual identity, fear of death, and perceiving the world differently, but viewers have to put the multiple mismatched pieces together themselves.Thursday, 7:15 p.m., Ritz East; Friday, 5 p.m., Ritz East

‘I Am Divine’
3 Globes
The one born Harris Glenn Milstead, who rode to underground success with John Waters and died just as he was about to improbably enter the mainstream, deserves a Great Man Documentary, one that preserves his myth while doing little but acting as a bouncy Wikipedia entry. Under the surface, however, lies something more interesting. Divine may have been best known for playing the other sex, but it’s revealed he hated drag: Waters (catty as ever) talks about how he tore off his frocks the second the cameras were off, while he appeared as his 300-pound self whenever he did interviews. There’s the suggestion that, no matter his various successes, he, like many who achieve fame, disliked the reason he got his fame, and longed for something else, preferably in a nice three-piece suit. Friday, 9:45 p.m., Ritz East; Sunday, 5 p.m., Ritz East

‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’
1 Globe
Or love will induce sleep. This dull, not droll, rom-drama opens with a stylish prologue in which the boyfriends of Genevieve (Kaleight Macchio) and Adrian (baby-faced writer/director/co-costumer Azure Valencia) dump them. Viewers should exit, too. The enervating “Love Will Tear Us Apart” features amateur acting and gimmicky visuals in the “clever” costuming and color palette. This forced whimsy is more airless than charming. Through with love, these BFFs consider themselves single and fabulous only to both fall for duplicitous smoothie Max (Lee August Roads). It is hard to care who ends up with whom, making viewers possibly more bitter about love than the characters. Wednesday, 7:15 p.m., Ritz East; Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Ritz East

‘The Way to Kevin’
3 Globes
Kevin Mines has a fascinating story. Raised by an abused single mother North Philadelphia, he performed as a church mime before becoming a gay thug porn actor and entrepreneur. However, troubles with his company, Venombois, and other struggles in his life prompt him to reinvent himself and create a new family. This intriguing documentary chronicles his evolving identity formation using candid interviews, photos and video clips. Mines is incredibly charismatic, but this earnest documentary is a bit amateurish, introducing characters and issues without exploring them fully. Despite its flaws, Mines’ incredible honesty and self-reflection shines brightly. Sunday, 4:30 p.m., Ritz East