Music, Style & Culture

Weekend

A magnificent, bittersweet romance with two of the most engaging performances seen this year.

Released in cinemas 4th November 2011.

British writer and director Andrew Haigh's low-budget, low-key romantic drama knocked the socks of Austin's SXSW attendees earlier this year, and it's not hard to see why it's become a sleeper hit in the US.

A deeply intimate look at one night stand between two gay men that becomes something more over the course of one weekend, it features two incredibly natural and endearing performances by Tom Cullen and Chris New.

Cullen plays Russell, a shy, unassuming Nottingham lifeguard, not exactly out and proud, and close to his straight friends. After a house party full of couples, he heads to a gay bar and wakes up with Glen (New) after an amusingly-shot comedy sequence of misunderstandings. Haigh adds some delightfully real touches to the morning-after awkwardness (Russell "cheats" by brushing his teeth while Glen can't), and lets us and his two characters get to know each other.

Despite Glen implying he doesn't want a relationship, he returns later that Saturday. The extrovert artist Glen and the insecure Russell bond over a night of brutal honesty, copious amounts of drugs and alcohol, and increasingly passionate and tender sex. A refreshing, sharp and witty script examines relationships, with a dash of the social issues that affect gay men (fantastically, Russell pulls Glen up on his sixth form politics and clichés). Cullen is exceptionally moving as his past is discussed, with the viewer almost feeling voyeuristic. As well as Weekend being a beautifully-played character study, there are plenty of intriguing plot reveals to give the film a strong sense of drama, and a sense of urgency to Russell and Glen's blossoming relationship.

With most of the film set in Russell's flat, Weekend could've been a stagey affair, but Haigh shoots with long, wide, fluid takes that bring Cullen and New's electrifying chemistry to the fore. The film is breathtakingly sensual, but grounded in painful reality (the wonderfully ordinary locations help). A magnificent, bittersweet romance with two of the most engaging performances seen this year, it can't be pigeon-holed as queer cinema - it's essential for anyone with a heart. A triumph for British cinema, Weekend deserves to break through to a mass audience.

Rating: 9/10