Warning: This film contains penetration of social bubbles, unsanitized hands, and explicit bare facing. It is for fantasy purposes only.
In Daniel Sanchez Lopez’s Boy Meets Boy two gay men meet each other on the dancefloor in Berlin after 24 hours of clubbing. At first, it’s the hazy intimacy of drugs that brings them together but soon, as they talk and chill, they fall into the comfort of compatibility.
Harry (Matthew J Morrison) is an overstretched A&E junior doctor who has lost sight of his higher purpose and needs a bit of earthy sex to feel something apart from discontent. Life is work, work, work, Grindr, sex, work, work, work. He is surprised to find that he has slipped out of shark mode on the dancefloor into a seemingly romantic day-long date with Johannes as he waits for his evening flight back to the UK. Johannes (Alexis Koutsoulis) is a dancer whose parents have inspired him to seek out the ideal of two people who are meant to be together. The magic of the film creeps up on you unaware. Its structure hides behind the ebb and flow of the two central characters’ dialogue. The easy flowing conversation is the side effect of Hannah Renton and Lopez’s script never drawing attention to itself. Its visual appeal is from camerawork that disappears. The use of silence is the most powerful part of the sound design. Morrison and Koutsoulis deliver the presence of character without falling into performances. They are recognizable, like people we have met but still want to get to know better. As Harry and Johanes talk they explore ideas about themselves, relationships, religion, family, and sex. They catch each other falling into repetitions of entrenched positions they have shared with others before and then unravel slightly under each other’s challenge. The issues, thankfully, never drown the personal perspective. The director, actors, and script always bring it back to two real people talking. |
Boy Meets Boy is likely to be a favorite at BFI Flare 2021. It makes a virtue out of its accessibility. Queerguru is launching our coverage soon and this early glimpse of accomplished understatement is giving us all the feels for a good festival.
Review by ANDREW HEBDENQueerguru Contributing Editor ANDREW HEBDEN is a MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement, he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre, and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day.
Labels: 2021, Andrew Hebden, BFI Flare, drama, German
