This one's a beautiful, tender, quiet romantic drama with a moody atmosphere, set in a tight knit Welsh fishing community. It's a touching story about a man waking up sexually in the middle of his life, and how he, his family, and everyone around him deal with it, which makes it emotional and sentimental without ever getting over the top. The slow burn plays out against a landscape that's as bleak as it is gorgeous, where quiet, closed off men are stuck inside rigid ideas of what masculinity should be. Some people might be reminded of "God's Own Country," but I think both films are lovely in their own way. Jack is a middle aged guy who co-owns a mussel farm with his rough around the edges brother Dyfan, and the tension between the two of them is simmering under the surface right from the start. Dyfan's three sons all help out with the work, while Jack's sulky teenage son Tom keeps skipping out. Jack's been with his wife since they were both 16, and...
The plot is actually basically very simple. Emma lives with her mother. Her routine includes sleeping through the day, then working at a night, very seedy adult/porn store which is usually followed by going to some bar, picking up either a man/woman; having sex and moving on with her life. We go through the mundane routine of her everyday life, waking up late, struggling with her coffee machine and being dropped off and picked up by her mom. We also realise that Emma makes up new names and new carers, overtime she meets a person because she doesn’t do drama and more than one night stand. One day she meets Mason, who she later finds out is transgender IT technician. Mason doesn’t jump in to Emma’s pants right away and takes her for dates. Finally when Emma also starts to have feelings for Mason(does she really?), things take an ugly turn when the girls from her past arrive and the real truth behind Emma is revealed, leaving everyone shocked on all the lies she has been telling.
Emma, played by Anna Shields, is the main actor, write and director of the film. As an actor I would say she is good, as a director average but as a writer; she needs a lot of work to do. There were some serious gaps and flaws in the screenplay of the film. Watching and going through Emma’s mundane daily routine gets pretty boring after about 10 minutes but we still have to sit through for about 30 minutes for it. The title suggests “bi” but barring one man, all action happens with other girls, until finally Mason comes into picture. Looking at all this, I wonder what was the real intent behind giving it a “bi” twist. As an actor Emma does quite well and brings out the boredom, frustration and naughtiness of the character alive. But same cannot be said of other actors. While most girls were over the top, Mason was a little too conservative. I wish there was a right balance. The film needs some serious editing. Many scenes at home feel repetitive. As a concept I think the idea is nice but as a full length feature film, it gets boring and repeated after a while.
I think this film will work better as a short narrative of 45 minutes or so; but as a full length feature film, it failed to keep my attention beyond a certain point. (3/10)
Comments