On The Sea (UK)

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 he's always worried about Tom getting mixed up with the wrong crowd, though the family does like Tom's girlfriend Lois. Then something happens that Tom's indirectly to blame for, and old timer Bernie, who earns his living with his scallop dredger, ends up having his leg amputated, so Jack steps up to look after the veteran fisherman. A young guy named Daniel has been working with Bernie, and when he and Jack happen to meet, that's what sparks the whole love story. The truth is that Jack's secretly gay, or bi, and the film gets its weight by showing this hidden, denied side of him that's been running alongside his official life for decades. He and Daniel are clearly drawn to each other, and both of them know about a cruising spot. On top of that, Jack's cancer has come back recently, but he wants to keep quiet about it. The sex between them starts out clumsy, nervous, and almost wild, then gets more tender and freer as they sneak time together in Daniel's trailer. The two of them take out Bernie's little fishing boat, and out there on the sea, like the title says, away from the judgment and bigotry of their community, a passionate, glorious affair takes off. Jack can't commit because he's rooted in that town while Daniel's a drifter. Word gets around though, and his wife asks him to move out. Even then he can't commit to Daniel. As Jack's health gets worse, his wife takes him back home to look after him, knowing his time is probably running short. Suddenly Tom feels like it's time to grow up, and in a touching moment we learn that Maggie had always known about Jack's sexuality. In a gentle gesture, she invites Daniel over to meet Jack so the two of them can have some quiet time together, and they head out on the water one last time.

The bond between Jack and Daniel is handled with so much sensitivity, like two guys courting each other from a different era. The film's strongest when it shows how hard it is to have an affair in a small, traditional town. Every sexual encounter comes loaded with secrecy and risk, with rejection and being shunned always hanging over them. I also feel the film spends a lot of time on Jack's ties with all sorts of people in the community, and that time could've gone toward the love and romance between him and Daniel instead. The gray, rainy landscape and the cold mood running through the whole film make for a really interesting backdrop for the story. Yes, it's very slow, but it worked for me big time, mostly because of the actor playing Jack, who's absolutely brilliant. He gives Jack a lean, hungry physicality and a worn down, quietly sunken presence, with eyes that flit around and never quite meet anyone else's. You can tell there's some kind of aching emptiness inside him, and what it is becomes obvious the moment he lays eyes on Daniel. I loved that it doesn't take cheap shortcuts or judge its characters, and just lets their emotions, choices, and messy lives play out naturally. Quiet, honest, and deeply relatable. (8/10)