Weekend

There have been a number of films focusing on budding relationships, only a handful on same-sex relationships. A lot of them go over the top with emotions, but there are those rare exceptions.

Take for instance Andrew Haigh's Weekend, perhaps the most honest relationship film I've seen. Haigh isn't interested in the amount of physical or emotional intimacy between Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New). He rather focus on the life going around them.

Cullen plays Russell as someone keeps quiet about himself. He likes being among friends but he usually listens to the conversations rather than joining in. (He admits he doesn't like expressing his sexual orientation in public.) Maybe it's because he doesn't want people to think differently about him.

Glen, on the other hand, is vastly differently from Russell. He not only embraces his sexual orientation, he criticizes those who view homosexuality as a bad thing. He is much more confident than Russell, yet New plays Glen as someone who feels and knows something is missing in his life.

Weekend is an exceptionally great film. Haigh throws out the tasteless cliches of same-sex couples, and treats Russell and Glen as an average couple. The scenes between Cullen and New are beautiful and at times heartbreaking to watch. Forget any prejudices you might have towards same-sex couples. This is a film everyone needs to see.

My Rating: *****