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...
Gene is gay which makes his father, who is a military man, completely furious. He leaves no opportunity to beat up his son because of his sexuality and his mother also can't do much. She says, even if they run away, the father will get them killed because he has strong connections. Eventually, when one day a video of him is circulated in the military, his father goes to kill his son, forcing Gene to run for his life. On his run, he meets the very kind Mark, an orphan who lost his parents few years back, who lives pretty much in the street doing odd jobs. Before you know, the two fall in love and start living a very blissful life. But Gene's father is very much on the lookout for him. When they get a whiff it, they leave and move to a quaint town in the mountains, but eventually Gene's father gets a hold of them. A few dramatic moments later, he shoots both the boys, only for the mother to come at the last minute and kill the man himself. Boys are rushed to the hospital after that.
Such melodramatic films used to work in 90s probably. But since then, anything like this seems just over the top and not natural. I am not saying that these incidents don't happen in today's time but its the presentation of the story that's just not digestible. The love between the two men happen so sudden that you just have to put your disbelief hat on. There were some nice moments but very few , far in between in this excruciatingly long film. The dramatic scenes were too long and too much filmy dialogues that would ruin the whole situation. Acting by two male leads, who also thankfully were easy on the eyes, was alright. The mother's over acting was laughable. I mean you know there is a problem, when you end up giggling when you are supposed to get emotional in a scene. The endless crying, fake talks, moaning and just the sheer length of the film was huge turn off for me. With a better screenplay, this story could have been very effectively told in 30 minutes. I'd say avoid it. (3/10)
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