Longtime Companion

Play trailer

Longtime Companion

R,

1990,

1h 36m,

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

92%

24 Reviews

Tomatometer

83%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

24 Reviews

83%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

During the 1980s, a group of gay men and their straight female friend confront the spread of AIDS. Personal trainer Willy (Campbell Scott) watches the epidemic grow, advocating for awareness. Willy's friend John (Dermot Mulroney) is the first to be infected, but soon it becomes clear that a pandemic is underway in the gay community. Willy, boyfriend Fuzzy (Stephen Caffrey) and his adopted sister, Lisa (Mary-Louise Parker), look on as their friends and loved ones succumb to the disease.

Critics Consensus

Longtime Companion is a sensitive ensemble AIDS drama, lensed with sympathy which builds to a moving finale.

Read Critics Reviews

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Jan 1, 2000

3.5/4

Longtime Companion is about friendship and loyalty about finding the courage to be helpful and the humility to be helped.

Go to Full Review

Terry Lawson

Dayton Daily News

Jul 17, 2025

3/4

It is a moving piece, especially in its last half.

Go to Full Review

Terry Francis

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

May 9, 2023

3/4

It's an ambitious approach... but Rene and Lucas gamble that by dramatizing the effects of AIDS on singular characters rather than generic representations, they will humanize the disease in a way that statistics cannot. Their gamble pays off.

Go to Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Nov 16, 2022

This film is heartbreaking, but replete with courage and macabre fun. [Full review in Spanish]

Go to Full Review

Michael Bronski

Gay Community News (Boston)

Sep 19, 2022

Longtime Companion is shocking and moving in its forthright attempt to make us look at the lives that AIDS touches.

Go to Full Review

Chase Burns

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Dec 9, 2021

It was the first major film to deal with the AIDS epidemic and remains a forceful and passionate look at a group of friends supporting each other as they battle the virus.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Albus R

Mar 30, 2019

Eschewing the trappings of the daytime soaps the characters follow, this one of the earliest depiction of the the AIDS crisis is a beautiful moving story of friends mourning their immediate loss to the epidemic and blessing the strength they muster after each death.

See more

Feb 1, 2019

The best romance movie ever made!

Draco G

Sep 3, 2017

Longtime Companion is a timely cinematic achievement that sheds light on the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and the scores of gay men affected by it. Bruce Davison, Campbell Scott, and Dermot Mulroney give tender and endearing performances as three friends who traverse the new world filled with paranoia and guilt about the outcomes that surround them. The film is heavily whitewashed; which could lead one to believe that the AIDS crisis only impacted well-to-do white men, but with an ensemble as talented as this it manages to pull more emphatic viewing of a group of people who are often relegated to the backseat in storylines.

See more

Read all reviews

Norman René

Director

Bruce Davison

David

Campbell Scott

Willy

Stephen Caffrey

Fuzzy

Mark Lamos

Sean

Patrick Cassidy

Howard

May Fools

100%

76%

May Fools

Watchlist

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

78%

80%

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Watchlist

The Landlord

100%

79%

The Landlord

Watchlist

Joe

83%

63%

Joe

Watchlist

Sons and Lovers

63%

49%

Sons and Lovers

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

8 More LGBTQIA+ Outlets from Regional Archives in Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston, and Beyond

View more photos

Synopsis

During the 1980s, a group of gay men and their straight female friend confront the spread of AIDS. Personal trainer Willy (Campbell Scott) watches the epidemic grow, advocating for awareness. Willy's friend John (Dermot Mulroney) is the first to be infected, but soon it becomes clear that a pandemic is underway in the gay community. Willy, boyfriend Fuzzy (Stephen Caffrey) and his adopted sister, Lisa (Mary-Louise Parker), look on as their friends and loved ones succumb to the disease.

Director: Norman René
Producer: Stan Wlodkowski
Screenwriter: Craig Lucas
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Company
Production Co: American Playhouse
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 11, 1990, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jan 23, 2001
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.6M
Runtime: 1h 36m

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings