ScriptyMcScriptface

I was lucky enough to catch this film at the BFI Flare LGBTQI+ film festival and despite being intrigued by the synopsis, I wasn't fully prepared for how moving a film I was in for. This is a mesmerising, heartwarming & wry tale of friendship, family, gender fluidity, life choices and much more - all wrapped up in a superbly shot and exquisitely balanced story. The local setting and framing of the reality, mundanity and beauty of the leads' existence really shines in the directing and camerawork with some of the shots literally taking my breath away on the cinema screen. One closeup of a hairy knee through fishnets actually bought me to tears. The witty and nuanced script is superb and lifted even higher by Nesbitt on blistering form as the ageing performer, with Jordan Stephens holding his own in the emotional scenes as his young ward. The whole cast really sinks its teeth into the tale and those moments are great, but at its core, this is a vehicle for Nesbitt to show why he should have had many more lead roles in his brilliant career and thanks to the director, Jamie Patterson, he finally gets that moment and runs with it. All in all this is a beautiful, timely, unique masterpiece which I can only hope gets the wide audience it deserves. Highly recommended!