Max Talisman’s first feature as writer-director-actor, Things Like This, which was inspired by classic rom-coms and his own experiences as a plus-sized queer man, is out now in theaters. The film also stars Joey Pollari, Jackie Cruz, Charlie Tahan, Cara Buono and Eric Roberts. Max began his career at the age of 12 in acclaimed regional theater in his hometown of Washington, D.C., before landing roles in the indie thriller Super Dark Times, opposite Jennifer Lopez in Marry Me, Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, NBC’s The Blacklist, and MAX’s dark comedy Search Party. After facing Hollywood’s narrow casting limitations as a plus sized actor, Max founded Malibu, Bro Productions to create inclusive stories and champion underrepresented, authentic characters.
I come from music. Before I was a writer, actor or filmmaker, I was a singer. I grew up in a musical theater household, and most of my childhood was spent treating every day like opening night. My mom used to say, “It’s so adorable – I just wish he could sing.” She wasn’t wrong … until 2001.
That was the year Moulin Rouge! came out. A tiny version of me learned to sing by matching pitch with the operatic moon. It was the first time I understood the power of music and image, the way sound could transform feeling. From that moment I fell in love with the way music and film dance – in step, in sync – and I’ve never looked back.
Music has always been the first creative language I understood. As I kid, I tried to make sense of the world through sound. That instinct never left. Now, as a filmmaker, music is embedded into every stage of my creative process. I do not start with plot or character, I start with a playlist. For every project I write, I build multiple playlists that evolve as the tone and emotional stakes become clearer. They help me locate the heartbeat of the story.
That same relationship between music and emotion is woven into my feature directorial debut, Things Like This. The film follows two men, both named Zack, who meet in New York and form a connection that neither of them fully expects. One is plus-size and self deprecating, using humor to deflect vulnerability. The other is outwardly put together but emotionally guarded. The story unfolds across awkward dates, late-night walks and moments of hesitation that feel small, but carry real weight. It is not a coming-out story; it is about what happens after. About how people carry old hurts into new relationships, and how they slowly learn to believe they are lovable. Music helped me find the emotional shape of that journey, and many of the songs in this list played a part in this film becoming what it is.
With Things Like This, the music was so integral that I initially wrote specific songs into the script itself. They acted almost like stage directions, guiding the rhythm of scenes and the emotional shifts within the dialogue. Eventually I removed most of them, largely for practical reasons, but their influence is still there. They shaped the world of the film in ways that are hard to name but easy to feel. One track, “Nirvana” by Elliana, remained. It plays during a moment of quiet realization for one of the characters, and for me, it perfectly evokes the feeling of falling in love while standing on uncertain ground. It is tender, aching, and a little disorienting. Just like love.
What follows is not just a list of favorite love songs, it is a personal mixtape, organized by the ways these songs have shaped my life and my work. Some are sweeping and cinematic. Others are raw and intimate. Many helped me find the emotional vocabulary I needed to tell this story. They live in the texture of the film, in the silences between lines, in the emotional logic of a glance and in the lingering feeling after a scene cuts to black.
The Classics (Songs everyone knows, sung by the greatest)
“I Have Nothing” – Whitney Houston
The vocals, the power, the emotion. It’s perfection. It also has my favorite orchestrations in a love song, maybe ever. The horns make her voice sound somehow even more crystal clear. Whitney had this power where her voice felt effortless, but her performance was outstandingly commanding. And that key change? The key change to end all key changes. It’s genuinely a joke. She’s unreal. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t really grow up with Whitney, but when I found her as a gay man in my early 20s living in NYC, it was like a new part of my heart got unlocked. I just can’t believe someone so gifted was here with us for some time. And God, I miss her.
“Oh Me Oh My (I’m a Fool for You Baby)” – Aretha Franklin
Her voice is pure honey. This song’s journey is as melodic as her voice. It coaxes you in and then brings you into a warm embrace that is full of depth and resonance. It is so rooted in the era when she performed it in the early 1970s, but it still carries the same feeling now, like a warm hug with someone you love deeply.
“Born to Run” – Bruce Springsteen
My dad made me a fan of the Boss at a very young age. There’s a sense of timelessness in his music that permeates forever. I’m obsessed with the youthful need in this song. You can feel how much it overwhelms in a massively energetic crescendo. It’s a song that can’t be replicated. And the lyric “I want to die with you, Wendy, on the streets tonight in an everlasting kiss” followed by that grunt might be the single hottest line in rock history.
“Fast Car” – Tracy Chapman
The yearning and the feeling of a love that’s so sweet, even if it’s not easy. Nothing more romantic. My parents played Tracy Chapman in the background growing up, but it was revisiting this song in adulthood that cemented it on my greatest-ever list. It’s so profound in its simplicity. The characters are born to struggle, but there’s an optimism in the love story that makes the whole thing feel almost like a film. I can imagine every frame. Truly a masterpiece.
“Kiss It Better” / “Love on the Brain” – Rihanna
Both of these songs off of Anti are, in my opinion, the sexiest pop songs of modern times. Rihanna creates a sensuality that few artists can replicate, and her voice has never sounded more sultry or controlled. “Kiss It Better” especially just makes you feel hot. Like, listen again and probably not in public.
The Alternative ’90s/2000s List (The emo songs I grew up with)
“I’m With You” – Avril Lavigne
No one does emotion like the old alt-emos did. I loved listening to this song on my little Walkman and feeling like a badass belting, “It’s a DAMN COLD NIGHT!” If this song comes on with any group of young millennials, good luck to your ears, especially at the “ya-e-ya”s. I never knew a bridge could just be sounds, but dammit, she sells it. I love a song you can visualize, and this one is exactly that. It’s cinematic, it’s epic and it’s raw.
“Fall for You” – Secondhand Serenade
Genuinely a rip-your-heart-out song. Like, ugh – love is pain. The existential feeling of I can’t live without this person permeates the whole thing. It’s emo emo emo, in the best way ever. And I love the bridge so much: “Breathe in so deep, breathe it in – I’m yours to keep.” Come on!!!
“Chasing Cars” – Snow Patrol
In 2006, I was in middle school and this came out to make sure I cried every night. This is another song younger millennials go absolutely feral over. I’ve put it on at karaoke and the reaction is always intense. The emo writers from that era had a way of lyricizing love that felt deeply personal to what it meant to be young and overwhelmed by emotion.
“When You Were Young” – The Killers
No alternative list would feel right without the Killers. Their lyrics were always at once poetic and resonant – sometimes spoken in total gibberish, but somehow you still know exactly what they’re saying. This song feels so nostalgic, and it’s literally about nostalgia … so that’s perfect. But tell me why this song instantly brings up so many memories from my early teen years. Ugh, I love the power of music.
“It Ends Tonight” – The All-American Rejects
This may not be a classic love song, but there is something undeniably romantic and tragic about it. I have always seen it as an epic love song, and no matter how I try to reframe it, that impression never fades. The opening chords strike and I feel it instantly. Then the vocal comes in and the emotion deepens. This song builds like a symphony, slowly and dramatically. I know I’m partial to this era of music, but there is a raw, blown-open-heart quality in these tracks that feels unmatched in any other time period.
The Unknown Current Indie List (The best songs by artists you might not know)
“Nirvana” – Elliana
The first time I heard this song was during a giant rainstorm in the mountains of North Carolina after midnight. Try to imagine that, listen to this song, and not feel the magic. P.S. This is the only song on this list that’s actually in Things Like This, so consider it a little peek into my brain before you see the full film. I dare you not to want to watch a gay romcom after hearing this song at full blast.
“the author” – Luz
Luz is an artist where every song feels like a confession she’s letting you in on. It’s a gorgeous deep secret between the two of you, and it’s so romantic. When I found this song, it was the holidays of 2020 and I was falling in love. It somehow captured both the sadness of not being able to be with my family for the holidays, and the beauty of sharing that time with someone who may have been new in my life but was already taking on such a deep and important role. I get verklempt when it comes back on shuffle.
“Antichrist” / “Deep End” / “Kissing in Swimming Pools” – Holly Humberstone
No one captures that cut-your-heart-out kind of longing quite like Holly. I am completely obsessed. Her music is a blend of chaotic heartbreak and euphoric release. If you ever find yourself needing to drive through something emotional at full volume, Holly is the artist to turn to. Her songs live in the ache and the most intense corners of love. It is painful, and it is perfect.
“Wide Eyes” – Loviet
An epic rock sound amplifies the need in this song. It’s sexy, arena-sized, and deserves to be heard at full volume. In the winter of 2023 and 2024, I used to blast this while driving on Laurel Canyon. The whole vibe feels weirdly emblematic of the icons who used to call that road home, and the sheer passion in her voice matched the wind rattling my car.
“Naked” – Phoebe Hall
I think it’s clear by now that I love a painful love song, and this one might be the most painful. It’s about needing someone else to validate that you’re beautiful. There is a deep anxiety running through it, but also a yearning to trust that feels incredibly honest. The vulnerability in the songwriting is rare, and I am completely obsessed.
Musical Theater Love Songs (The gayest and most essential list)
“So in Love” – “Kiss Me, Kate”
The line “So taunt me and hurt me, betray me, desert me. I’m yours till I die.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! That is love. Love is pain. And it’s glorious. Also, if you’ve never watched De-Lovely with Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, turn it on tonight and try to get through the “So in Love” sequence without sobbing. A perfect moment of music in film.
“All I’ve Ever Known” – Hadestown
Another lyric to rip your heart out: “I don’t know how or why, but you. Who am I that I should get to hold you?… I knew you before we met, and I don’t even know you yet. All I know is you’re someone I have always known.” Kill me, in the best way possible. I’ve seen this show four or five times now, and every time this song makes me sob. There is something so raw and vulnerable in the lyrics that I have rarely felt on a Broadway stage. It truly captures what it feels like to fall in love and to accept everything that comes with it.
“Someone Like You” – Jekyll & Hyde
Those who know me know I’m a Frank Wildhorn apologist. But Jekyll & Hyde is his best, and Linda Eder’s recording of this song is absolute gold. It was also the first Broadway show I ever saw, when I was five years old. Which honestly makes perfect sense. What better introduction for a tiny version of me who was already fully obsessed with love, pain and murder? I was a weird kid.
“If I Can’t Love Her” – Beauty and the Beast
My favorite song to sing because of the open heartache. Had to include it. The 2017 Disney remake replaced this song with “Evermore,” which was still good, but the ache in “If I Can’t Love Her” resonates so much more deeply. It is a more devastating expression of what it means to long for someone you feel you can never have. And the reality of the Beast’s situation, waiting out his curse while his time on earth expires, is actually so profound and shockingly beautiful.
“As Long as He Needs Me” – Oliver!
As beautiful as it is heartbreaking. A perfect song about misplaced devotion. Ugh, I love it so much. If you don’t know this one, search Kerry Ellis’ final performance of the song on the West End. You can find it on YouTube. The song stabs you in the heart, and Kerry’s performance will stare you in the face.
These songs have shaped how I love, how I grieve, and how I create. They are in the rhythm of every scene, the silences between the dialogue, the choices the characters make when words fall short. They helped me build Things Like This from the inside out, and now they belong to the film as much as they belong to me. I can’t wait to share that with you when Things Like This premieres in theaters on May 16. Maybe you’ll hear something in it that sounds a little like your own story too.
Featured image shows Max Talisman and Joey Pollari in Things Like This.
