Have you ever had a wish come true? In new film “Ripples of Water,” it’s Peter’s birthday, and it’s a big one. He is having an existential crisis over the biggest fear many gay men have–what does it mean to age, to be seen as older. Opening a new decade, a new chapter, takes on new meaning for a sweet, loving man, who finds himself on the precipice of middle age, as Peter learns what it truly feels like to love and be loved, when he gives in to the Power of Change, in this new award-winning romantic comedy that’s about taking second chances.
Immediately before his 50th birthday party, Peter is in his room, drinking his feelings and ruminating on turning 50. There is a party with dear friends and rooms full of people who love him. One of them makes a wish, a powerful wish, and the wind on the Jersey Shore brings a most special gift in the form of Caleb, a younger man who finds Peter irresistible. The perfect gift it is for the man beginning the next part of his life.
Filmaker AJ Ciccotelli directed and co-wrote the work with the star, Gian Carlo Durand. It originally began as a short play in La Strada Theatre Ensemble’s annual LGBTQ+ Rainbow Festival in Ocean Grove, New Jersey in 2017, with a conception as a monologue more than 20 years before. When AJ met Gian Carlo and they began to work together, AJ saw a different potential and made it into a one-act play.
The best aspect of this film is the sense that there is always something good lurking around the corner in our lives. We just need to recognize the love around us to realize it is also within. This is not “Kiss Me, Guido,” the Zima of film. This is a complex full-bodied red wine, the kind you drink at the birthday party of a man that you love.
There is mystery swirling around Caleb, who rides into town on a steel horse that manages to break down in just the right place at just the right time. After all, wouldn’t you rather have a breakdown on the Jersey Shore? Why does Caleb wander in to the right place at the right time? How does this beautiful stranger get together with Peter? The answer lies in “Ripples of Water.”
“Ripples of Water” was selected for the 2019 My True Colors Festival.  See it on June 29th at noon at the Wow Cafe in the East Village, New York City.  It is also a semi-finalist for Shanghai Pride Festival, finalist at Out Kansas City, Queen Palm, Depth of Field, and won audience award for Best Feature at qFlix Philadelphia.