Lonesome

Of course it's not always a compliment when someone calls a movie courageous, but in this case it really is. It shows some darker sides of gay culture with a bluntness that we seldomly see, without any judgement, just observing.

To me it also showed that these 'darker sides' of gay eroticism can have their own function in a persons life.

And there's the courage of the two actors that play the main characters, to take on with such intensity parts that have such explicit gay sex and nudity.

I'm particularly impressed with the very subtle, naturalistically introvert acting of Josh Lavery. In my opinion he would very well function in a scala of roles, from action hero to romantic interest, but apparently up until now he has mainly been in what we call 'gay' movies. He also has a very impressive voice.

In one other review the term gaysplectation is mentioned. I can see why, there's a lot of scarcely dressed or bare naked young man to be admired. But I think the term doesn't do right to the movie, because of the intense acting and the venturous parts of the story.

The music of this film just seems weird every once in a while, as if taken from some low-budget 70ies movie.

A young rural Australian man escapes a small-town scandal to Sydney, meeting another guy through Grindr.

The plot feels less important than the intimacy between the lead actor and the filmmaker. The impressive performance of lead Josh Lavery is unusual and takes time to reach its full impact. At first I felt his character was too underplayed, but at least he was aware of his limitations. Slowly throughout the film I felt the impact of his hopelessness and the tangible reality of his survival-mode. Similarly, there is a lot of nudity and no aspect of his experience is excluded, the cumulative effect of which is a deep empathy and familiarity, like intimately getting to know a new lover. Subsequently, the extent of my identification with the protagonist by the end of the film was quite shocking. His relationship with the Grindr hook-up that doesn't end is also depicted in a matter-of-fact way that somehow creates a cumulative impact, where the casualness of their commitment to each other obscures the evident fact that they have something very real and significant to offer each other. I hope this film gets a chance to reach the world and that Josh Lavery gets opportunities to surprise us further as a performer.

...about halfway through the film, and the journey of the lead character, the situation that motivated him was revealed in an effective scene. Had that revelation been used to offer deeper insights into his character, as well as those he had interacted with by that point, it could have served as a powerful character study. Instead the audience is blessed with violence, apathy, and shallow sex presented for shock value. Had the script spent more time exploring the emotional ramifications of its protagonist's loneliness, the film might have had an opportunity to be remembered for more significant reasons...

Powerful movie about the struggles of a young gay guy: survival, migration toward a big, gay city, and learning how to love (oneself and others) without much help along the way.

The two main actors are amazing and convincing, the photography is stunning, and the plot has a picaresque pace.

The movie reminded me of another Australian queer film, Head On (1998), which deals also about identity crisis, migration, and the difficulty to be at peace with oneself.

Lonesome also reminded me of My Own Private Idaho because of many factors: the appeal of the drifting cowboy, the family drama, and the ordeal of alcohol, drugs and chemsex.

Josh Lavery as Casey and Daniel Gabriel playing Tib were real stars here. I don't recall either of them putting a foot wrong under the tight direction of Craig Boreham. The supporting cast was uniformly good too.

The sex and the nudity didn't bother me at all. These are integral to the lives of young gay guys. Casual sex and promiscuity are a given in much of the queer community. I've lived this and, to me, the guys portrayed were true to life.

As the film progresses, we learn about the background of the two leads, especially that of Casey. Those back stories explain much of the motivations and behaviour of the two protagonists.

I don't want to leave spoilers, but I've reduced the mark to a seven as I thought the ending could have been handled better or written differently. However, all in all, a good film.