Departure

Andrew Stegall's film 'Departure' tells the story of a son and his mother under pressure when they have to sell their holiday home in the wake of the break-up of her marriage; and simultaneously, of the son's nascent interest in a local youth. At times, we're dangerously close to Joanna Hogg territory (and I don't mean that kindly), but the characters are mercifully drawn with more warmth and we're allowed enough of a glimpse of the back-story so that the film makes sense. It's still not quite right, however, with alterations between sections that are well-crafted, dull Hogg-like periods where nothing happens save for the characters sulking in their misery, and occasional moments oddly presented as ephanaic in a way that jibes with the mood of the rest of the film. It's not awful, but I found it hard to get engaged.

This is one of those character driven movies that draw you in from beginning to end.

The movie follows mother and son over a week as they pack up a vacation home and ready it for sale. They meet a local boy enters their lives and complicate matters.

Although slow moving at times, I found this a fascinating watch with believable characters and situations.

10+10+10 Stars! This film tugs my heart on SO many levels. Alex Lawther is magnificent. I felt every emotion along with him. Juliet and Phénix round the cast brilliantly. Tears of joy!

Excellent film. Beautiful backdrop of rural Languedoc in autumn, natural peaceful and unspoiled whilst the lives of the characters portrayed are anything but. I do not agree at all with those reviewers here who give the movie a panning. I thought it was very sensitively handled and there was a lot of authenticity and insight into young Elliott's first gay fumblings.

Yes, some bits of dialogue and screenplay were a bit clunky and wooden, especially when the father arrived towards the end of the film. But I really enjoyed the interaction and exploration between the two young men: lonely young gay English lad bored with his mother on holiday bumps into sexy athletic moody young Frenchman , OK you could say it is 'cliched', but so much of our lives are unoriginal, but no less exciting when it happens to us for the first time at that age. I saw a lot of myself in Elliott.

One of the most enjoyable gay movies I have seen in a long time. And the fact there was very little sex in it was not a problem at all. It improved the narrative. Less is more in this case. Well done Andrew Steggall.

Andrew Steggall's lovingly directed first feature is a breath of fresh air in the British cinema scene. What at first sight looks to be a quite familiar LGBT coming of age story is turned by Steggall and his lead actress, Juliet Stevenson, into a far deeper and more engaging story. Elliott's (Alex Lawther) discovery of his own sexuality is beautifully framed against the collapse of his parents' marriage and their discovery that their lives had been based on falsehoods that, in some sense had crept up on them unawares. This is a film that will reach out far beyond the LGBT market and should do well across the European art scene. Very finely and delicately shot in the Languedoc region of France it establishes Steggall as a truly new voice in British cinema - not just composed and assured in the medium but with a distinct aesthetic of his own. It will be fascinating to see where he goes in his next feature - surely a larger and even more ambitious project.