3.7
While trying to navigate life as he enters his 30s, Ryan slips further into loneliness. A chance meeting with a friend's boyfriend, Sam, changes that and as they grow closer. Ryan must now come to terms with who he is, and what that means for him.
Joel Ballanger
Ryan
Al Braatz
Sam
Sara Hinding
Maya
Daniel Bossenberry
Paul
Carly Fawcett
Vanda
Dan Tait Brown
Brad
James Gagné
Pat
Tara Gottschalk
Kara
Teaghan Scarlet Young
Mika
Mark Kimmich
Tom
Nathan Schwenk
Geoff
Nicole Stawikowski
Session host
Director, Screenplay
Mark Weeden
October 22, 2023
6
This is one of those rare films that tries to deal with the re-emergence of your sexual identity later in life. It centres around the increasingly disillusioned "Ryan" (Joel Ballanger) who meets up with a friend of a friend. "Sam" (Al Braatz) is openly gay and living what we feel to be the tail end of a long term relationship in which he is no longer really invested. It comes as quite a shock to his system for "Ryan" to find that his relationship with his new friend not only pushes his boundaries, but pretty much eradicates many of them altogether and his erstwhile straight life gradually changes. It's a slow burn, this - and that doesn't help it, neither do the annoyingly shifting timelines at the start which are a little confusing. That said, though, director Mark Weeden is trying to illustrate here via some admittedly rather weak acting that love isn't black and white nor straightforward, and there is actually very little one can do when the proverbial Cupid's arrow hits you and you have to deal with the consequences. It's fair to say that both men are pretty selfish. They are caught up in their own desires to the exclusion of many more meritorious of their respect if not their love and that, too, rather put me off as the story advanced along predictable lines. It's also far too long, with way too many lingering shots and establishing imagery that takes the pace off the film and leaves us with an all too meandering exercise in too much introspection. Still, it probably rings true for many an early thirty-something coming to terms with something relatively unexpected yet profound in their lives.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00