Filmed in and around Chicago. C. M. Birkmeier's no-budget film centers on a turbulent relationship between Kurt (Kyle Wigent), and Paul (Tanner Rittenhouse). They begin the film with their affair completely "in bloom," as the title suggests; but then Kurt declares openly to Paul that he is no longer in love. Whether that is actually true or not is a moot point; by the film's end, when Kurt is the unwitting witness to an horrific murder, he actually discovers the true meaning of fidelity and loyalty.
The plot is a familiar one, but director Birkmeier reinvigorates it through a suggestive cinematic style. His stock-in-trade is the flat two-shot framing Kurt and Paul as they eat Chinese food, play video games, or sit in bed. This might suggest closeness, but can also denote imprisonment; hence Kurt's desire to escape the relationship. Yet Birkmeier also uses the aerial shot looking down on the two lovers as they lie in bed together. They seem quite far distant from the camera - a fitting metaphor, perhaps, for the state of their affair. On another occasion he films them making love to one another; they are actually lying horizontally in bed, but Birkmeier shoots them from the side and then turns the image through forty-five degrees, making it seem as if they are standing up, having a "quickie" before moving on.
On other occasions Birkmeier uses locations to suggest the sterility of the protagonists' existence. Paul spends his days in a grocery- store filling shelves and exchanging desultory conversation with co- worker Eddie (Jake Andrews). Meanwhile Kurt visits several groups of youngsters to sell them weed; while making a lot of ready money from the deals, he does not seem to enjoy it very much. Or maybe he is just frightened of engagement with anyone, whether boyfriends or others.
Critics might accuse IN BLOOM of giving a stereotyped portrait of a gay community as promiscuous, drug-addicted and hedonistic. This is perhaps a little too censorious: Birkmeier seems more interested in the emptiness of his characters' existences as they move aimlessly from party to party without any real aim in life. This is the main reason for Paul and Kurt's break-up; while they claim to have each other, they both realize that the relationship will not get anywhere.
