If you heard high-pitched screaming in the distance and assumed it was just the wind — think again. That was Gay Twitter combusting in real time at the news that Manu Ríos and Kit Connor are starring in the same movie. Together. In robes. During a medieval zombie apocalypse.
Yes, this is real life. The film, titled Rapture, promises blood, plague, and possibly the most sexually tense monastery since The Name of the Rose. And while we don’t know if there will be queer storylines, the sheer vibe alone has already declared this a canonically gay event.
Connor — the soft-spoken bisexual heartbreaker from Heartstopper — and Ríos — Élite’s resident smolder king and professional thirst trap — are set to star alongside The Bear’s Will Poulter in a historical horror movie that asks the most dramatic, delicious question possible: What does it mean to be human when the dead refuse to stay dead?
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Set in 1348 Yorkshire, the story centers on Lansley Abbey, a stone monastery whose ten monks are living their quiet, cloistered lives until a stranger arrives with “haunting news from the outside world” — and the telltale signs of a contagious, undead-making illness. According to the film’s synopsis, “a virulent plague is spreading through the land: marked initially by a hemorrhagic fever, it turns its victims into ‘revenants’ — restless, undead beings.” The walls close in. The morals fracture. The drama? Immaculate.
But while the official press materials focus on existential questions, Gay Twitter had other priorities. Within hours of the announcement, users were already spiraling — with memes, fancams, and one particularly viral post that simply read: “They made this one for the gays.” And really, it’s hard to argue.
And look — we’re not saying Rapture will be overtly queer. It might not be. But the casting alone has stirred something ancient and beautiful in the LGBTQ+ psyche. Connor and Ríos are two young actors who have captured queer hearts not just because of their beauty (though, let’s be honest, that is part of it), but because of the way they embody complicated masculinity — soft, sultry, searching. Their very presence in the same film already feels like representation, even if it’s just the two of them exchanging suspicious glances across a candlelit chapel.
Directed by Canadian playwright and novelist Jordan Tannahill, who was once named one of CBC Arts’ “69 LGBTQ+ Canadians Shaping History,” Rapture marks his feature film debut. And based on early buzz, it’s a debut that’s arriving with a bang. “We have all been blown away by the vision Jordan has for Rapture,” said HanWay Films CEO Gabrielle Stewart. “It is rare to have such an atmospheric and terrifying zombie horror film that inhabits such an authentic historical world, with complex characters grappling with the biggest moral dilemmas.”
Complex characters? Moral dilemmas? Haunted monks played by Manu Ríos and Kit Connor? Maybe throw Will Poulter to make a love triangle? We won’t complain because to be honest— we’re already writing the fanfiction in our Notes app.
Filming kicks off later this year in Hungary. Until then, we’ll be camped out in the replies of every tweet about Rapture, watching the internet lose its mind and whispering our daily prayer: please, please let Kit and Manu make intense eye contact in the candlelight… just once.
Source: Deadline
