Out of all the fascinating, extravagant, wild and simply unbelievable stories that took place in the gay sub-culture of San Francisco during the 80s, this is by far the most dull...and I know this first-hand since I lived it. A large portion of the film (probably 1/3rd) is just watching modern ballet dancing...as if that's what anyone did in SF. The music (except for one accurate tune),the hair, the clothing and the attitudes of this film are just OFF...nothing like the mid-80s....not even close. I'd say watch an actual movie about the AIDS pandemic MADE closer to the 80s (Long Time Companion, And the Band Played On, etc) if you really want to get a sense of what it was like. This just doesn't do it.

Like so many in 1985 who were caught up in the AIDS crisis in New York and San Francisco, so many of us awaited the results of the crucial HIV test to determine whether we had the incurable and fatal virus. As do the members of this San Francisco based ballet company some of whom seemingly asymptomatic but still testing positive.

I was part of that also. I had a case of pneumonia which lingered on and gave me asthmatic symptoms. I had the test just as shown here and of course was relieved to be found negative.

Some are not so lucky in Test. The critical decision they have to make is what to do with their lives with a medical death sentence hanging over them.

The film is anchored in the fall of 1985 when we see references to the illness of Rock Hudson. That put a public face on the disease and spurred a bit government action on a federal level.

I am guessing that with me seeing a lack of other film credits or only a few with most of the cast their backgrounds are as dancers not actors. There are some beautiful ballet sequences here. And that lends a nice ring of authenticity to the performances.

This one is a real sleeper, se it by all means.

Though technically well done and visually adept, even stunning at times, Test adds nothing new to the genre of mid 80s HIV cinema. Test is a step up from Chris Mason's 2008 film, The New Twenty, but suffers from the same lack of original story.

The trailer led me to believe I was going to see a movie that was as much or more about dance as it was about HIV. This was not the case. What dancing there was was the highlight of the film.

Scott Marlowe plays the lead role, Frankie, superbly. It is unfortunate that he was not given a more interesting story to tell.

In the end Test plays like a safe-sex public service announcement done with edgy flair.