The release of Sundance Film Festival darling The Kids Are All Right - whose two chief protagonists are a middle-aged lesbian couple - could not be more interestingly timed.
Throughout the Federal election campaign, both major parties reaffirmed their stance on gay marriage.
Alongside this, same-sex marriage rallies have been held across the country, forcing the issue onto the national agenda.
Regardless of where one stands on this contentious matter, a viewing of Lisa Cholodenko's film should go a long way towards understanding and accepting the legitimacy of homosexual relationships, and ultimately, marriage.
Co-writer and director Cholodenko's surprise Sundance hit manages to bring gay content out of the “special interest” file and into the mainstream, portraying a same-sex couple and their children as any other family one might find across suburbia.
Southern Californians Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) are faced with the standard challenge of raising two teenage children.
Only difference: Nic and Jules are lesbians and the children are products of artificial insemination.
When Joni (up-and-comer Mia Wasikowska, Alice in Wonderland) and younger brother Laser (Josh Hutcherson) seek out their biological father, Paul (Mark Ruffalo), it throws a curveball right out of left field.
Cholodenko worked on this project for seven years and only just managed to lodge her Sundance submission at the last minute.
The response from industry types was overwhelmingly affirmative, keen to get behind subject matter that has for too long been kept in the closet.
Cholodenko's deft directorial touch and authentic script, which is dramatic and humorous in equal measures, is carried by a pair of powerhouse performances from Bening and Moore that are nuanced yet full of gusto.
If Bening and Moore take no issue with same-sex relationships or marriage, then why should the rest of us?
THE Kids Are All Right (MA 15+)
Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko
Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo
Rating: Four stars
Screening: from September 2
Reviewed by: Emilia Vranjes