When Britain colonized almost half the world, some 400 years ago, it imposed its legal and moral codes in every country it took over. Even when they one by one got independence and became a member nation of the British Commonwealth, they still had many of the old British laws in place.

Antigua and Barbuda in the West Indies was one such  ‘country’  and it was granted independence in 1981, BUT it never got around to decriminalizing homosexuality until 2022.  At that time, there were still 68 countries where it was illegal to be gay, many of them Antigua’s neighbours.

Then, between 1948 and 1970, nearly half a million people moved from the Caribbean to Britain, which in 1948 faced severe labour shortages in the wake of the Second World War. Those who came to the UK around this time were later referred to as “the Windrush generation“.  They included two men, Barrington (Barry) Walker (Lennie James)  and Morris (Ariyon Bakare) who came with their wives to start new lives in London.  Mixing the two different cultures was not easy, but Barry became a successful property developer with a very sharp sense of style and was  a Shakespeare enthusiast.  His wife Carmel (Sharon D Clarke)was old-school and although she earned a degree that landed a job running a Housing Authority, she was still a strict old-fashioned Christian as she had been back in Antigua. and wouldnt change her ways.

Now they had two adult children and an adolescent grandchild, but the pair had drifted apart to the point that their marriage was in jeopardy.  We learn soon that one of the main reasons was that Barry is a closeted gay man who has been having a secret affair with Morris, his best friend, for five decades now.  He is torn between his traditional held views about homosexuality in general on one hand, and his deep love for Morris on the other hand.  His refusal to accept that fact he is  a homosexual or there is such thing as a gay life style is beginning to put a strain on his clandestine affair.  The fact that Barry’s two children are also having difficulties with their own relationships does not help too.  However now that he  is 74 years old and  ‘facing his final chapter’ ‘Barry has big choices to make that will force his family to question their futures too.

The  8 part TV series Mr Loverman, based on the novel by  Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo, and written by Nathaniel Price. had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2024.   It has subesquently become a smash hit on BBC TV in the UK where the two lead male actors both won BAFTAS (British Oscars) and  the series will definitely repeat that success globally now that it is being released on Brit Box TV.  The subject matter of an older queer relationship makes this totally unique, but its both the story line and the acting that raises it to plane that very few queer movies reach.

For once I’ve avoided even hints of how the story develops because there  are so many surprise elements ,all very believable, that keep you fixated until the final credits roll.  And no, I refuse to even suggest if you will need a box of tissues or not. 

However its the finely nuanced of the three actors who are seen in flashbacks and the current time (massive congrats to the makeup & hairdressing teams who perfected the aging process) in their deeply felt portraits as three elderly people coping with the fact that they are so out of step with the world around them.  Thanks to them its a sheer joy to watch, and I challenge you tnot to binge wach like I did.  You’ll find it impossible to avoid.