Sunflower (Australia)

This beautiful film started off really well and I was quite into it, but somehow the second half felt quite disconnected, almost as if two different film makers had made the film. An honest depiction of teenage sexuality, the film is about coming out story of a 17-year old, overcoming bullying and a hate crime to find happiness and self-acceptance. The film doesn't specify the time period, but lack of phones and chat style on computer suggest that this was likely set in the 90s when the times were very different.

Leo, a handsome Greek-Italian teenager lives with his parents and younger brother. His best mate is Boof and they are quite close doing all silly things together. Leo is sort of rushed into dating Monique, a girl from the class who really likes him and whose best friend is also Boof's girlfriend. But Leo can’t stop himself from stealing glances at red-headed Tom, a buddy of his younger brother. At a house party, when Leo is unable to have sex with Mo, he just goes out and lies on the grass. At some point Boof shows up and they both kiss. (We are shown earlier that Boof teases him continuously by wrestling or jerking off together).Things change in school the very next day. It's not shown but likely Boof has told everyone that Leo is gay and this is when mental and physical torture starts. Suddenly he finds himself ostracized by classmates, being called names. I guess Boof's internalized homophobia leads him to have his cousin and his friends beat the shit out of Leo. A ray of hope comes in form of Tom, who becomes Leo's strength. He asks him out , letting him know that he is gay and has known about it. The two tees slowly have a good time helping Leo to forget his trauma and eventually self-acceptance. He finally decides to come out to his parents as well. By the time Boof realizes his mistake and tries to reach out to Leo, he has moved onto Tom.

Let's talk about some of the problems I had with this film. Till the house party, where eventually Boof and Leo kiss, the film was going well. But suddenly post that the film is almost a silent film. We are never told how told the school, or what or when and suddenly Leo is the outcast. What prompted his best friend to out him. Also wasn't he outing himself while doing that? Plus none of these actors looked like 17 year old school students. They clearly looked much older, mid 20s easily. And why was Leo's father always shouting? Especially when Leo comes home soaked in blood, rather than being empathetic to him, he shouts at him. That makes no sense. On a brighter note, Actors were all cute. Leo was so handsome and the actor conveys a world of emotion with a glance, his expressive eyes capturing the quiet devastation of rejection and the tentative joy of self-discovery. And so was Tom. Tom is a quiet, empathetic schoolmate whose budding friendship with Leo feels like the emotional lifeline every queer teenager deserves. The actor brings a strength like personality and a confidence in himself, something that Leo needs. His scenes with Leo are very few and only towards the end but they are all endearing, He is the guy who eventually makes Leo not hate himself, be proud of who he is and also find the courage to tell the truth to his family since family is what matters. Actor playing Boof, brings the taxi typical male who is likely dealing with his own internalized homophobia. The titular sunflower becomes a recurring motif-a potent metaphor for Leo's blossoming self-acceptance. The film doesn't shy away from the brutality of homophobia, but it also celebrates the resilience of queer youth and the beauty of finding your tribe, even in the darkest moments. Times have since changed and the film reminds us once again that 'It gets better'. (7/10)