Bad ideas, when considered under the influence, can sound brilliant, even revolutionary. So is the case of two dudes, Ben and Andrew (Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard, respectively) who decide one night that they could win Humpfest (based on The Stranger’s amateur porn contest, Hump) because the idea of two straight guys making gay porn is a mind-blowingly original idea. So is the plot of northwest treasure Lynn Shelton’s newest film, Humpday.

Straight men making gay pornography is not a revolutionary idea (the term “gay for pay” exists for a reason) but neither Ben nor Andrew want to back down; each has something to prove to the other (mostly that they want to fit each other’s perceptions of one another).

The script in Humpday is both very smart and funny with fully realized characters (especially Anna, Ben’s suffering wife who has much more depth than you might expect). Humpday is much less about sex but its effects on the fragile, male ego.

Humpday plays as the Centerpiece Gala at SIFF on June 5 at 7pm and again on June 7 at 1:30pm, both screenings are at the Egyptian. Check SIFF.net for ticket info.