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...
Hendrix has been home alone for 3 days now. His drug addict mother Nina has abandoned him (like prior times) and is with her boyfriend cum drug dealer Patrick. When neighbor's report this, Nina's friend Ivanka takes Hendrix with her but since she has a trip to US coming up with her girlfriend, she hands over Hendrix to her friends, Jean Paul and Chema, a well-to-do, stable, gay couple. Chema is initially skeptical but soon finds himself warming up to the boy. The couple's gardener and maid initially worry if the couple would be a good role model for the young boy and also for his physical well-being but slowly their fears also go away. The drug dealer, Patrick owes money to some bad guys and he hatches a plan to sell Hendrix to a couple who are looking for a child. He forces Nina to go look for her son, whom she eventually finds and takes away from the gay couple despite Hendrix's hesitance. When Patrick leaves the young boy to the wannabe couple, Hendrix insists on talking to his dads and goes with them. The husband, worried about gay men taking Hendrix, calls the police. The police arrest Jean Paul and Chema for kidnapping and sexual assault. Nina, distraught over losing her son again, overdoses and dies. Patrick, trying to meet with the husband again to get money, is arrested. In the end, Hendrix is returned to Jean Paul and Chema, and allowed to resume a healthy life as their son.
This film is presented as a drama about couples and family that ends up being more. In some funny scenes, we see even though the maid and the gardener have been working for the gay couple for years but a young boy in their home brings forward all sorts of dirty things in their maid just because the couple is gay and not straight. I didn't mind it since, it adds a slight relief to an otherwise serious film and indirectly addresses issues that people think of but not many come out and say it openly. My one problem with the film was there were too many sub-plots and somewhere it starts to get too much. I don't think we needed the whole child angle for Ivanka, her girlfriend and brother. It really didn't add much to the story. On the other hand, its heart warming to see how the gay couple gets so attached to the young boy that they are ready to do anything for safety and well -being of him, although part of it is also for their reasons of creating a family, which was never part of their bigger plans. The horrible face of society is also shown when the gay couple gets arrested and are also charged with sexual harassment just because of their sexuality. The production of the film seems pretty good and acting by almost everyone is quite good.
Hopefully after watching the film, hopefully you will feel that gay couples can be just another family and not the other family. Besides the length of the film and too many sub-plots, the film definitely deserves to be watched. (7/10)
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