Prick Up Your Ears is a 1987 British film that is a Biopic of playwright Joe Orton, directed by Stephen Frears. It stars Gary Oldman as Orton and Alfred Molina as Orton's lover (and eventual murderer) Kenneth Halliwell.
Told in flashbacks which trace Orton and Halliwell's initial meeting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, when the older and more worldly Halliwell takes eighteen-year-old Orton as both a lover and a Protégé. Eventually Orton's writing career takes off, turning the power dynamic in their relationship on its head. Halliwell grows increasingly insecure and smothering as Orton grows more popular and successful, leading to an ultimately fatal downward spiral.
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
- Bury Your Gays: Unfortunately, this is a case of Real Life Writes the Plot: Halliwell murders his lover Orton before committing suicide himself.
- Establishing Character Moment: Halliwell's improvised scene with the "cat.
- Lover and Beloved: Halliwell and Orton, respectively, at the beginning of their relationship. Orton outgrowing the "beloved" role is the primary source of the film's conflict.
- Most Writers Are Writers: The film is structured as a book writer researching a playwright.
