Last night I watched the upcoming release, “The Mattachine Family” starring Nico Tortorella and Juan Pablo Di Pace. They play husbands who decide to foster a young boy named Arthur, whose Mom struggles with drug addiction after Arthur’s Dad dies.

The film starts of well, with Thomas (Tortorella) narrating through a series of flashbacks and images, the story of losing his father in early childhood. He also tells us how Oscar (DiPace) a child actor Thomas was quite familiar with, was outed in the tabloids, losing his career. Continuing into his adulthood via flashbacks, Thomas meets Oscar in person at a wedding Thomas is photographing amidst a very funny tragedy when a bridesmaid collapses on the beach. Still in flashback, we see them having a wonderful year of firsts with Arthur, only to end when he goes back to his birth Mom when she gets her life back on track.

Comic tragedy is something the film successfully leans into early on. One of the best scenes in the movie involves the social worker who facilitated their fostering, Laura, played fabulously by Annie Funke who has a ridiculously funny and cringe-y accident that brings Thomas and her closer together than any social worker and client should ever be.

For a while, the film balances this heightened sense of reality perfectly. The film’s tone is somehow simultaneously over the top and unbelievable but also very, very LA, especially when we are introduced to professional lesbian Mommie and influencer, Annie (the wonderful Heather Matarazzo) at a party that Thomas attends.

From here, things start to take a bit of a turn. Initially, Thomas says that he will never foster again after the pain of losing Arthur. While Oscar is away filming a TV series, Thomas begins to rethink that decision. Tortorella is so good, truly carrying the second half of the film with his awkward vulnerability. He exhibits a rawness as Thomas that is fascinating to watch. It helps to forgive the shortcomings of the screenplay, particularly dialogue scenes that abruptly shift the subject with overly sincere and pointed lines like, “How are you doing?”

The film’s major flaw is that it makes Oscar the villain in the story. After losing his career Oscar is having a comeback, the career he always wanted, but instead of filming in Los Angeles, it’s in Michigan. Oscar wants Thomas to move with him to Michigan, but Thomas is conflicted.

In a scene that is difficult to watch for all the wrong reasons, Oscar says to Thomas that he doesn’t want to be a Dad and that Thomas is clearly trying to fill the void left by the loss of his Dad at an early age. This doesn’t track, and therefore Oscar is the bad guy. Because we don’t really see them happy together outside of the initial flashbacks, there is no investment in their relationship, and therefore, no buy in for the audience.

Although it is touched upon, it would have been more interesting and more believable if Oscar had simply been afraid that having a child would prevent him from being able to have the re-burgeoning career that was ripped away from him for being gay. Sure, Thomas could have taken care of the child while Oscar worked, but that would make Oscar an absentee parent. Is that what they really want?

All that said, I would still encourage you to watch the film, mostly for Tortorella’s performance. They give a fully committed, heartwarming, funny and at times very heartbreaking portrayal. There is a scene at the courthouse where Thomas tries to get Arthur back. It’s a plot point that isn’t quite fleshed out, but Tortorella gives it their all, expressing the complexities of wanting Arthur to have a happy life with his Mom but also not wanting to give him up.

I don’t want to give away the ending, but things happen as you likely imagine they will. The final moments of the film set us up for the potential of Thomas’s future and whether or not Oscar will play a part in it. It’s an interesting question, even if by the time we get to the ending we aren’t sure we want it to be answered anymore.

THE MATTACHINE FAMILY arrives nationwide on all major digital platforms Tuesday, June 4 from Giant Pictures.