A gentle, understated film about humans endlessly, fiercely screaming and clawing for love
That's exactly what this movie is to me, a silent scream, a completely inaudible roar for love and happiness - and it is absolutely, unrestrainedly, beautifully joyous.
I love nothing more than quiet, profound explorations of the human condition (forgive my use of that pretentious phrase) so I already knew I was going to like this movie, but I had no idea just how much I'd love it.
It has fantastic writing, stellar performances from the entire cast, and the editing as well as the soundtrack (or more often the lack thereof) perfectly underscore the characters and their emotions and lend the film its distinctive, quiet atmosphere that lets it tell its story so effectively.
But more importantly than all that, this movie has things to say. About being human. About being happy. About love.
And is says these things in so many tender little moments that all build up to a big thundering shout, until every frame seems to scream about reaching for joy and happiness, about the clawing fight and the simple reaching out, about what it means to love someone, anyone at all, and why it is vital for us squishy, brittle, hungry humans to experience that love as the transformative force that it is and let it makes us bigger, and stronger, and kinder. About finding beauty and care and kindness in other people and allowing them to change you, but also about the kindness of being uncompromisingly yourself.
I could spend hours waxing lyrical about the wild joys and endless griefs of being human and why media exploring those themes is so valuable, and this movie certainly gave me ample opportunity for it, but I don't think that's necessary.
All I need to say is that if you like movies with authentic, believable characters, respectful yet unflinching exploration of queer topics, and heavy themes of love and joy and forgiveness and the journey the search for these things takes each of us on, then this movie is without a doubt perfect for you.
And if that doesn't sound like it'd appeal to you, I'd encourage you to watch it anyway; genuinely. There is so much to love about this film, so many wonderful ways it could be viewed, I think you might just end up loving it for a myriad of reasons that I didn't even touch on.
This is one of those films that makes your life slightly better for having seen it, so go watch it and give it the chance to do just that.
I love nothing more than quiet, profound explorations of the human condition (forgive my use of that pretentious phrase) so I already knew I was going to like this movie, but I had no idea just how much I'd love it.
It has fantastic writing, stellar performances from the entire cast, and the editing as well as the soundtrack (or more often the lack thereof) perfectly underscore the characters and their emotions and lend the film its distinctive, quiet atmosphere that lets it tell its story so effectively.
But more importantly than all that, this movie has things to say. About being human. About being happy. About love.
And is says these things in so many tender little moments that all build up to a big thundering shout, until every frame seems to scream about reaching for joy and happiness, about the clawing fight and the simple reaching out, about what it means to love someone, anyone at all, and why it is vital for us squishy, brittle, hungry humans to experience that love as the transformative force that it is and let it makes us bigger, and stronger, and kinder. About finding beauty and care and kindness in other people and allowing them to change you, but also about the kindness of being uncompromisingly yourself.
I could spend hours waxing lyrical about the wild joys and endless griefs of being human and why media exploring those themes is so valuable, and this movie certainly gave me ample opportunity for it, but I don't think that's necessary.
All I need to say is that if you like movies with authentic, believable characters, respectful yet unflinching exploration of queer topics, and heavy themes of love and joy and forgiveness and the journey the search for these things takes each of us on, then this movie is without a doubt perfect for you.
And if that doesn't sound like it'd appeal to you, I'd encourage you to watch it anyway; genuinely. There is so much to love about this film, so many wonderful ways it could be viewed, I think you might just end up loving it for a myriad of reasons that I didn't even touch on.
This is one of those films that makes your life slightly better for having seen it, so go watch it and give it the chance to do just that.
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