A Gay Boy with OCD Trying To Kick His Grindr Habit Hopes To ‘Come Clean’

L.A.-based production company Lonely Spectre has partnered with award-winning screenwriter/director Sal Bardo’s Five Hands Films for a new queer short, Come Clean, about a young man struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder who white-knuckles his way through a Grindr hook-up and makes a mess of things — figuratively and literally.

Above: Bardo’s award-winning short film Requited

Bardo explains: “I’ve been thinking a lot about how mental health can complicate or even stand in the way of making personal connections and finding happiness in the 21st century, not to mention how dating in the midst of a global pandemic can make things even more complicated. Come Clean draws on my own personal experiences trying (and often failing) to connect with others, as well as watching people I love struggle with O.C.D., and how all of that has been magnified over the last couple of years.”

Above: Still from Bardo’s award-winning short film Pink Moon

“The film is dark,” Bardo admits, “but it’s also funny, sexy, and hopeful.”

With half of the financing for Come Clean already in place, a Seed&Spark crowdfunding campaign has been launched to raise the remainder of the budget to complete the film. The filmmakers plan to reach their goal within 30 days and kick off production this spring.

Above: On set of Sal Bardo’s short film Sam

Watch the trailer below.

Sal Bardo’s films, including his controversial short Chaser, have racked up over 35 million views on YouTube and Vimeo. In 2015, his short Pink Moon won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Big Apple Film Festival. The following year, his music video for Paper Ring’s “Great Escape” was nominated for the Iris Prize, the world’s largest LGBTQ short film award. Bardo is currently developing a feature-length adaptation of “Great Escape” titled Out of the Woods.