In the age of Grindr, Scruff, and other apps, who cruises anymore?

THE END OF CRUISING is a stimulating anthology documentary that celebrates the pleasures gay men had finding places for anonymous sexual activity. 22 short films by Todd Verow and collaborators, Dave Hickey, Antony Hickling, Charles Lum, Billy Miller, Xavier Stentz and others (some of which prefer to remain anonymous) recount and reflect on the experience of having private sex in public – from furtive but knowing glances on the street to anonymous assignations in toilets, parks and gay beaches.

The stories explore the thrill and danger of the lost art of cruising. One man describes getting busted in Washington Square Park, while another provides a tour of Boston’s “Loop” a cluster of hotel men’s rooms where multiple trysts could occur. Eloquent voice-over narratives wax lovingly and with appreciation about the possibility of being serviced along the endless rows of urinals in Lisbon, Portugal, in the Tuileries of Paris, or in the tearooms in London’s Hyde Park. THE END OF CRUISING showcases glory holes and consecrated sex vortexes in Berlin, Paris, London, and throughout the United States to provide location footage of many of these now-closed sites that once played an important part in the sexual development and gratification of gay men. The result is equal parts nostalgia and queer history that articulates the thrill of cruising and the safe and not so safe spaces men appropriated to express their sexuality.

This 2020 HD restoration and stereo remaster contains updated footage. The film was originally released in 2013.