Illustration by Ryan Casey

The 17th annual Philadelphia QFest runs July 7-18. Single tickets to regular screenings are $10; for info, call 267-765-9800, ext. 4, or visit qfest.com. All reviewed films are being screened at Ritz East, 125 S. Second St. (RE), or Ritz Bourse, 400 Ranstead St. (RB).

Circumstance | B

Persian-American Maryam Keshavarz makes her feature debut with the story of two young Tehranian women struggling against social norms. As it often does, teenage rebellion bleeds into (counter-)revolution; the two go from hanging out at illegal parties to helping a friend dub Milk into Farsi. Along the way, their friendship starts to turn passionate, but an elder brother, once a drug addict and now a member of the city's "morality police," develops an unhealthy obsession with their relationship, using clandestine cameras to spy on them. Apart from some metaplay with those multiple screens, Keshavarz's solid, unfussy craftsmanship lets the story come to the fore, making intriguing if rarely thrilling results. —Sam Adams (7/15, 7 p.m., RE)

Hollywood to Dollywood | B

Those big-city Yankee elites can have their Barbra Streisand — in the South, the drag diva of choice is Dolly Parton. Twins Gary and Larry Lane, who made a minor name for themselves on Fear Factor, are Tinseltown strivers who set out in an RV to crash Dollywood's 25th anniversary party and get their mammoth chick-flick script into the country icon's hands. But the film becomes more about another journey: the one the twins made coming out in small-town North Carolina. Similar stories are broached along the way, making this a poignant picture of family acceptance (and lack thereof). —Shaun Brady (7/9, 2:30 p.m.; 7/11, 5 p.m.; RE)

homo@LV | B-

You could be forgiven for not even realizing that there was a gay rights struggle happening in Latvia, but Kaspars Goba's revealing doc finds a particularly intense battle under way. When activists organized the first Riga Pride parade in 2005, the City Council's offhand reaction was, "Sure, what route do you want?" A spontaneous, virulent protest arose, however, forcing the marchers to find sanctuary in a church and sparking a polarizing debate involving church, state and human rights (including a pair of interfering evangelicals from the good ol' U.S. of A.). —Shaun Brady (7/17, 12:15 p.m., RB)

In a Glass Cage | B+

Cross El Topo and Apt Pupil and you'll be halfway to envisioning Agustí Villaronga's warped feature, first released in 1987, disinterred, restored and resubtitled to the horror of right-thinking people everywhere. The opening scene, in which Günter Meisner strings up a naked boy in an abandoned building and beats him to death with a two-by-four, is merely an amuse-bouche for the twisted tale that follows. After Meisner is paralyzed in a fall, he unwillingly gains an accomplice in slim, dark-eyed David Sust, a witness to Meisner's recent crimes and a student of his past horrors. As a concentration camp doctor, Meisner experimented on children; now he becomes the subject of a clinical trial, as Sust subjects his iron lung-bound charge to increasing mental torture, occasionally unplugging the machine just to watch Meisner gasp for air. Villaronga's equation of moral depredation and (supposed) sexual perversion is more tiresome than offensive, although it's especially out of place given Danger After Dark's strange bedfellow. Still, it's as creepy as they come, leaving a lingering chill that only time can warm. —Sam Adams (7/15, 9:30 p.m., RB)

Mangus! | C-

The fact that John Waters makes a cameo appearance — playing a tetchy Jesus — should tell you everything you need to know about Ash Christian's sophomore effort. A particularly lazy brand of intentional camp, Mangus! tells the story of a wheelchair-bound teen's dream to play the lead role in his school's copyright-dodging musical, Jesus Christ Spectacular. Lots of cheap targets (trailer park trash, Clay Aiken) are broached and shrugged off, all to focus on a self-absorbed hero who learns nothing over the course of an aimless 80 minutes. —Shaun Brady (7/15, 7:15 p.m.; 7/17, 2:45 p.m.; RE)

My Last Round | B-

This striking Chilean drama concerns Octavio (Roberto Farias), a beefy boxer with epilepsy who falls hard for handsome non-athlete Hugo (Hector Morales). While Hugo resists Octavio's initial kisses in the rain, soon the lovers move to the city and cohabitate. While nothing explicit is said — or shown — there's plenty of intensity and grit in this probing character study. Even without a strong emotional punch, My Last Round achieves palpable intimacy. — Gary M. Kramer (7/13, 7:15 p.m.; 7/16, noon; RE)

This Is What Love In Action Looks Like | B-

Morgan Jon Fox's documentary focuses on Zach Stark, a gay Memphis teen who at age 16 was sent by his parents to Refuge, a camp run by "ex-gay" ministry Love in Action where fundamentalist Christians drill young queers in the finer points of acting and, theoretically, being straight. Their methods, which came to light in 2005 when Stark posted a list of camp rules on his MySpace page, would be comical were their results not potentially toxic: No touching, no eye contact, instruction in auto mechanics and batting practice (the last two only for boys, natch). Fox's technical skills are rudimentary, and despite an even-handed interview with former Love in Action director John Smid, the mind-set that allows parents to ship their kids to self-denial summer camp remains opaque. Luckily, the subject is fascinating enough to do most of the heavy lifting all by itself. —Sam Adams (7/9, 5:15 p.m., RB; 7/13, 5 p.m., RE)