Sweethearts ⁞⁞ Movie Spotlight

The MAX original film Sweethearts follows codependent best friends Jamie & Ben as they plan to dump their long-distance high school sweethearts, Simon & Claire, after their first semester in college. With all four being present in their hometown for Thanksgiving, they see it as the perfect opportunity. Palmer (Caleb Hearon), Jamie & Ben's shared best friend, is enlisted to help wrangle Claire & Simon when their travel plans cause them to be delayed getting home. The gay Palmer had been taking a gap year in Paris, and returns home planning to host his official coming out to all of the people he left behind in his small-minded town for a more fabulous life abroad. This all leads to an eventful night of missed connections that ultimately causes the three friends to re-evaluate their priorities and their futures. Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) and Ben (Nico Hiraga) ask Palmer to go to the high school homecoming football game to grab Simon & Claire before they can get sidetracked and pulled into the planned parties in town. While there, he crosses paths with the football coach Reese (Tramell Tillman) briefly. He brushes off the coach's small talk. After Claire (Ava DeMary) and Simon (Charlie Hall) get drunk at Palmer's house, they escape while he's changing clothes upstairs. He goes after them, running into Reese again. He helps Palmer get the super drunk duo under control. He gets them food at the local diner and introduces Palmer to Lukas (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) who works there. 

It's then that Palmer puts the pieces together that the coach is gay, as is Lukas. He confirms as much and they have a conversation about why Reese would ever stay closeted in their small town instead of moving away, like Palmer did. Reese then tells him that he is out and proud and has a boyfriend who he takes to all the football games. Palmer's guarded self-obsession caused him to not pay any attention while he was in high school. Reese then takes him to the local bowling alley, introducing him to the gay league that plays there, including his boyfriend Ethan (Joel Kim Booster). Ethan shares his story about moving away to New York after he graduated high school and how things floundered before he returned to Ohio and became a firefighter in town. Palmer opens up about actually being miserable abroad, having made no new friends. Reese & Ethan help him unburden himself with a public coming out and that ends up leading him to Jamie & Ben. The trio head to a house party to find Claire & Simon. While they are doing their break-ups, Palmer is surprised when Lukas shows up, revealing that Reese told him that Palmer was going to be there. Palmer is surprised that Lukas is interested in him and they bond over the rest of the night. Later, they celebrate a queer Thanksgiving hosted by Reese, becoming a couple. Palmer reveals to Jamie & Ben that he's decided not to return France. He will instead enroll in school nearby so that he can explore new love.