ROMANTIC DRAMA; 1hr 36min
STARRING: Tom Cullen, Chris New
Getting to know you: from left, Cullen and New
Mornings after can be hard work, and even harder when the man you picked up the night before — while prowling, wasted, in an East Midlands gay bar — insists on recording your hungover thoughts about the experience for an art project. Boundary-pushing Glen (New) is into challenging preconceptions. Pool lifeguard Russell (Cullen), who is less at ease with his sexuality, is more reticent. They’re ideally proportioned opposites, and English writer-director Andrew Haigh takes a true-to-life look at their first two days together.
With unaffected performances, no musical soundtrack, leisurely takes, raw streetscape sound and seemingly unstructured, docu-style camera work, Haigh brings the awkward angles and giddy discoveries of a new relationship to uninhibited, gratifying life. Although the guys are relatable, the wordy barrage of soul-searching and insecurities — along with the sex: though not hard core, it’s full-on — will likely play to a limited market. And that’s absolutely fine: it’s no easy-breezy investment but what Weekend does, it does with conviction and care.
