"Dating is terrifying." How the hot new comedy Bros is based on a series of real stories.

There was a lot of conversation around the new movie Bros before most people even had the chance to see it.

On one hand, the new movie starring Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane is very much a classic, New York-set romantic comedy with a love story that will warm even the most cynical moviegoer's heart (and I'm speaking from experience here).

The story follows podcast host and writer Bobby Lieber (Eichner) prides himself on remaining single as his circle of friends begin to couple up and raise precocious children. 

He's in the thick of the city's online dating world, working his way through a series of (sometimes hot, sometimes disastrous) sexual hookups with no desire to ever arrange a second date. 

Then he meets Aaron Shepard (Macfarlane) who is best described as an incredibly ripped lawyer who also, on the surface, appears to have nothing in common with the cynical Bobby, who labels him 'hot but boring'.

Of course, what we then get to watch is the most delicious of all on-screen love stories, an 'opposites attract, just can't help falling in love' pairing with a few serious and funny complications along the way.

Take a look at the trailer for Bros.

On the other hand, because of the films that have dominated the box office before it, the significance of Bros means the conversation around its release has not been centred solely on its comedy or romance.

Bros, which Billy Eichner directed, executive produced, and co-wrote with Nick Stoller, is the first same-sex romantic comedy ever released by a major studio and features an openly LGBTQI+ principal cast.

And, just with any project that makes its way into the world as a first, there was an expectation for Bros to stand for many different experiences all in one movie. 

As an added catalyst to the conversation, when the movie performed lower than expected during the initial US opening weekend, and Billy Eichner penned a series of tweets (that quickly went viral) questioning why some audiences didn't turn up to see his movie, the conversation around bankable stars, pop culture discrimination and who gets to tell which stories exploded even further. 

Box office, as we all know, has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of a movie. And tweeting about a movie you haven’t actually seen is meaningless. That’s just twitter bullshit. The majority of people who see Bros really love it! Go check it out and see for yourself!

— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 3, 2022

But when I spoke to Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane during their recent trip to Australia, they were just focused on making a movie that would make people laugh, one based on real-life stories (some that even took place on their set) and re-imagining the classic romantic comedies they had grown up loving. 

"We just don't get a lot of comedies in the movie theatres anymore," Billy told Mamamia, explaining he had spent years working on Bros as a result of noticing a gap in the comedy market. "At least we don't in the States and I imagine it's similar here. It's just so much fun to sit in a theatre and laugh with other people. 

"I see Bros as a very romantic movie," he added. "But it's also not without its complicated and more serious moments."

Now, if you're a true lover of romantic comedies, you'll know a movie's success is based on one important factor: Chemistry between the leads.

With rom-coms, we're conditioned to overlook a number of things. Including, but not limited to, unbelievable meet-cutes, sassy best friends with no back story, and palatial New York apartments that are allegedly rented on a single small salary.

But while watching the movie, if you truly believe the leads will run through rain/airports/traffic just to seal their love with one final kiss against all odds, all the other problems just float away.

 Luke Macfarlane and Billy Eichner in Bros. Image: Universal Pictures

When Billy and Luke first started filming Bros, they had never spent anytime together before, but as soon as the cameras started rolling on set, their on-screen chemistry was undeniable. 

"We actually did not know each other before we started working on the movie," Luke said. "But then, one of the most interesting first conversations we ever had actually ended up in a pretty important part of the movie."

"I asked him what type of music he listens to and he said he listens to country music and loves Garth Brooks," Billy explained. "So we put that into the movie and it becomes part of a joke. 

"That conversation between us actually inspired the big song at the end of the movie, which was not in the script before we started shooting. And then I thought 'this really feels like our characters', so it went right into the movie."

"We didn't want the movie to be a rom-com cliche," Billy continued. "We wanted this story to stay true to the gay male experience – at least the one that I know. 

"I can't speak for all gay men, obviously, but my experiences and the patterns of behaviour I've observed amongst my gay friends over the years are all in the movie, they inspired it. 

"So it was about finding the right balance between the rom-com moments that we all love but also doing it in a way that felt authentic for these characters."

Along with its cinematic love story, Bros also shows the raunchy and truly terrifying sides to modern dating. With threesomes, staged naked DMs and awkward one-night stands all a part of the story. 

"We wanted to keep it real," Billy said of the movie's dating and sex scenes. "You know, when you go on a date with someone, it has its sweet moments, its romantic moments, and moments where you feel like 'oh, this is really working'.

"And then other moments are like 'oh, God, they don't like me'. You're constantly questioning yourself. We wanted the movie to be honest and I think that's what people relate to. Dating is terrifying. 

"We also never sat down and said, 'this will be a scene for gay people. And this is a scene for straight people'. We just wanted to write an honest, funny movie.

"It's also a sexy movie to me," Luke added. "It's always a fun thing to see how everyone loves a movie like Magic Mike and we have a little bit of that in our movie too." 

"I grew up watching all those great romantic comedies that are based in New York," Bill said in conclusion. "When Harry Met Sally, Annie Hall, Moonstruck and Working Girl, and a million movies like that.

"For years we've watched movies about these couples falling in love while they walk around Manhattan. I love the fact that we got to do that, but with a story centred around a gay male couple.

"That felt special to me."

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here.

Bros is in cinemas now. 

Image: Universal Pictures