Weekend
Director: Andrew Haigh
Writer: Andrew Haigh
Cast: Tom Cullen, Chris New, Jonathan Race, Laura Freeman
Part of: identities Festival

Plot:
After hanging out with his best friend Jamie (Jonathan Race), Russ (Tom Cullen) spontaneously hits up a club where he meets Glen (Chris New). They head back to Russ’s together. But what starts as a simple one night stand quickly develops into an intense and intimate weekend spent together.

There were some good parts to Weekend. It just got a little boring with all the reflection and discussing (even if it was pretty intelligent) and the absence of an actual plot.

I mostly liked Weekend, but it does get a little too navel-gazey for my taste. I just don’t think it’s that interesting to listen to two people talking about how they see the world and things like love and intimacy if you can’t join the conversation. (I imagine that that’s what the Linklater movies – Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight – are like which is the reason I haven’t seen them yet.) I realize that this is my own hang-up and I’m pretty certain that a lot of people will enjoy listening to Russ’ and Glen’s conversation.

And the two of them are at least engaging characters. Russ is very charming and Glen provides enough friction so we get to the juicier conversation bits (though I doubt that I would like Glen much if I met him in real life).

There were some very nice touches to the film. I did like their discussion about the visibility of homosexuality in everyday life and how Haigh contrasted that with repeated references to CCTV – showing cameras or having announcements reminding people that they are being filmed. I thought that this was a very interesting point and it was nicely explored. And Russ’ kinda diary was a heartbreaking testament to the personal struggles general homophobia, not letting somebody be themselves, can cause (among other things).

I also liked Russ character development. It wasn’t an overdone after-this-weekend-he’s-completely-different thing but it did show what an impact people can generally have on you, even in a short time.

Summarising: If you like semi-philosophical, a little rambly movies, this is made for you. If you don’t, it’s still worth watching.