Mario: teammates to lovers

Marcel Gisler’s 2018 Swiss film Mario probably changed my life. I’m aware that seems dramatic but after watching it I spent weeks telling everybody I spoke to about how amazing it was, despite the headache I had from crying over it.

The movie centres on two young, up and coming footballers falling in love and dealing with the very real homophobia in professional sports. I don’t want to add any spoilers in because if you haven’t yet seen Mario you absolutely need to.

Mario (Max Hubacher) plays for BSC Young Boys – who actually let the film be filmed in their training ground – and ends up slowly falling for fellow teammate Leon (Aaron Altaras) as they navigate a relationship playing together and as lovers. The acting is breathtaking and the realism from the on-set locations make you feel as if you’re actually watching them fall in love.

I think the reason this movie resonates with me so much is because as a queer football fan it’s so important to see that LGBTQ footballers do exist and witness the struggles and cover ups that they must have to go through. As a woman, I see plenty of female footballers in loving gay relationships but there’s currently no out male footballers in the top five European leagues.

Mario perfectly touches on why male footballers may still face snide homophobic comments from teammates and the fear of losing sponsorship and fans from club owners past their prime, whilst still showing the pure and wholesome love between the two young men.

Stonewall currently have an amazing campaign called Rainbow Laces which focuses on the inclusion of LGBTQ fans and players in sports. The Premier League support the campaign by wearing pride coloured laces and captain armbands for a week in December and sure, it’s not going to fix all the problems queer people face in sport but it’s a damn good start.