With the outstanding ‘Lost Boys and Fairies’ being the only other queer drama I can think to be set in my Welsh homeland, it’s a pleasure to see more from there in writer/director Helen Walsh’s ‘On the Sea’. Set near the Menai Straits in North Wales, this is a different environment to that of ‘Lost Boys’, having more in common with ‘God’s Own Country’ with which it shares similar broad themes. Comparisons can also be made with ‘Brokeback Mountain’.

Our middle-aged hero Jack, has been married to his childhood sweetheart, Maggie for decades. They have a teenage son, Tom, who is reluctant to join his father in the family business working the mussel beds, so Jack, currently in remission from cancer, finds himself waist-deep raking for mussels with his truculent brother and nephews.

One evening, at a birthday celebration in a pub, Jack goes to intervene upon witnessing a rugged stranger get into an altercation with some locals, but Maggie stops him, ‘it’s not your fight’. The following day, Jack sees that newcomer Daniel has found work on his friend Bernie’s boat, but then an incident on the dockside with Jack’s son Tom and some other lads sees them connect while going to Bernie’s aid.

The pacing is slow and atmospheric. This is the kind of slowly-paced movie that I love, think ‘The History of Sound’, and here it lends credibility to the development of a relationship between a man with a life to lose and another with no such ties.

Tonally, this is a film of contrasts. The cold, steely hues create a bleakness that is quietly interrupted when more life brings bluer skies, and God’s light passing beneath the waves. When words fail, the look, the kiss, the head resting on a shoulder, mean everything.

The sex between Jack and Daniel is portrayed with a realism that is rare in similar movies, where closeted, working-class men might normally be seen to go at it hammer and tongs. It’s not soft focus and romantic either; it feels authentic. I wish the fight scenes had been similarly well choreographed, as when punches are thrown it comes across as stagey.

The exquisite, often ethereal music from Felix Rösch lends a gorgeous quality to this beautifully shot movie, and the end song, ‘Don’t Be Scared, I Love You’ by Bill Ryder-Jones is an inspired choice. My only overall criticism was with the sound quality of some of the dialogue. This needed to be a quiet movie given the setting and the subject but on a couple of occasions, it was difficult to catch what characters were saying, which led to some temporary confusion.

Barry Ward as Jack (Bad Sisters, Dating Amber) is in virtually every scene and gives a beautiful, understated, powerful performance. Lorne MacFadyen as his lover Daniel (Starstruck, Vigil) and Liz White as his wife Maggie (Anatomy of a Scandal, Call the Midwife) are similarly assured. Both Barry and Liz give impressively authentic Welsh accents.

Helen Walsh has created something very special here with her thoughtful and realistic portrayal of two men connecting in a rural community.

This one will sit with you awhile.