Hollow Reed is a 1996 gay movie about a young boy Oliver Wyatt. Oliver lives with his mother Hannah and her boyfriend Frank Donally. Oliver's father Martin Wyatt is gay and have separated with his mother. Hannah has custody of Oliver. Martin picks Oliver once in a while to spend time as allowed by the court. Martin is a medical doctor and lives with his boyfriend Tom Dixon.
Oliver begins to show up with injuries including black eyes which he blames on some bullies. Martin asks Oliver about the injuries but he insists they are from bullies. Martin is suspicious Oliver is not telling the truth.
One day Oliver is caught by Frank drinking directly from a juice container. Frank hits him in the eye then bends his hand crushing it. Next day the school calls to inform his parents that he came with a broken hand. Martin analyzes the xray with fellow doctors and concludes an adult must have crushed Oliver's hand. Even now Oliver is not telling the truth.
Martin confronts Hannah about it insisting it must be Frank who is abusing Oliver. Hannah dismisses it and asks Martin to leave saying he is jealous of Frank because he is normal.
One day Hannah drives off to work leaving Oliver with Frank. On her way she remembers that she forgot something and drives back. She enters the house and hears Oliver crying. She finds Frank beating Oliver and forcing him to scrub a table he cut with a knife. Hannah orders Frank out and realizes he has been behind all the abuse.
Later that night Frank comes into the house and they reconcile with Hannah. Martin had already filed for custody of Oliver citing the abuse but he has no sufficient proof. In the proceedings Hannah's lawyer uses Martin's homosexuality as a basis of denial of custody. The hearings strain Tom's relationship with Martin.
The case goes to the high court and child welfare officers begin visiting Martin's house to access his suitability to get custody of a child. The hearings are heated as Hannah's lawyer continues to dwell on Martin's homosexuality. Tom is cross examined and he breaks saying the wrong things out of a temper. Now it almost seems Martin's quest for custody is impossible. Martin tries to convince Oliver to tell the truth about what has been going on.
One day Hannah and Frank go to school to pick Oliver. Oliver spots them and runs off into the woods. They begin looking for him. He later climbs through his window into the house. He picks a sharp object and goes after Frank. He cuts his arm and bites his leg. Frank is angry and begins beating Oliver. Martin who is still looking for Oliver comes to Hannah's house and hears the commotion. He runs upstairs and finds Frank hitting Oliver. He saves Oliver and asks him to run out. Frank starts beating Martin and they take the fight outdoors where Hannah who has just arrived and neighbors witness Frank's rage. Tom comes over to help Martin.
The incident gives Martin full custody of Oliver. Hannah is only allowed limited visits. She asks Oliver to come see her sometime but he keeps quiet. Martin and Tom now have custody of a child despite being a gay couple.