Weekend

Director: Andrew Haigh
Starring: Tom Cullen and Chris New
Distributor: Independent
Runtime: 97 mins. Reviewed in Jan 2012

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Rating notes: Strong sex scenes, sexual references, drug use and coarse language

A small-budget British drama, a story of a relationship developing and/or breaking over a weekend. The film has won quite a number of overseas awards.

The weekend is that of Russell who is in his mid-20s and works in supervision at a swimming pool. His background is an orphanage when he was a child and he still keeps in touch with a friend from those days and visits his family. Russell, however, lives alone, introspective in many ways. But, on the way home from his friend’s house, he goes to a gay bar, eventually returning home with Glen.

Much of the film consists of conversation between Russell and Glen and covers most of the issues that are of concern to gay men as well as to those who want to understand more of the lives of gay men and their search for relationships.

Russell has not succeeded in finding the right person for him. At this stage of his life, despite some casual pickups, he is looking for something deeper and more permanent. Glen, on the other hand, is not. He is ideologically opposed to commitment. He tapes Russell talking about his experiences for one of his art projects. This enables writer-director, Andrew Haigh, to voice different perspectives on love, sexuality, commitment and the issue of civil unions. Glen is about to go to study in the US, so there does not seem to be any prospect of long-term relationships. The film also includes some intimate sequences between the two men, visually and with frank language.

Audiences who identify with Russell or with Glen will find that the characters, exploring their own attitudes, offer opinions for thought. Those who don’t identify may be put off by having to listen closely to these men or they may be helped to some.