This clip contrasts the home lives and different pressures facing two young men grappling with their sexuality in the Stan Original drama series Invisible Boys. Hammer, whose background is Yamaji, has a mother who wants him to focus on his promising AFL career and a girlfriend who is ready to take their relationship to a more physical level. Zeke sits through a chilly dinner with his conservative Italian parents, and not even the news that he might become school dux can thaw his mother’s hostility.

The visuals emphasise the stark differences in the boys’ home lives. Hammer’s house is airy and light and casual; dinner at Zeke’s is a formal and claustrophobic affair. Nevertheless, both boys are ‘invisible’ – forced to keep their sexual orientation a secret from their families – and these contrasts only make it more satisfying when they eventually come together.

Invisible Boys is set in 2017, against the backdrop of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, which is subtly reflected in the radio background noise at Hammer’s house. The survey ultimately led to the legalising of same-sex marriage in Australia, but it also gave people permission to openly share their views about the LGBTQIA+ community, no matter how toxic – making it harder for boys like Zeke and Hammer to be open about their feelings.

Invisible Boys refreshingly places its queer characters in the regional setting of Geraldton, WA, rather than a big city. In a major change from Holden Sheppard’s novel, Hammer is a First Nations character, played by Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri actor Zach Blampied. The clip also shows us the Italian background of Zeke (Aydan Calafiore, a former contestant on The Voice Australia) and his conservative mother (played by Pia Miranda), who is preoccupied with respectability politics and conforming to small-town appearances. Focusing on several specific facets of queer life allows Invisible Boys to tackle some of the complications and complexities that young gay men in rural Australia face.