“On The Sea”: Barry Ward And Lorne Macfadyen Light Up A Rugged Welsh Romance
A new film is stirring up buzz from its premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and it involves two ruggedly handsome men, a remote fishing town, and a lot of pent-up feelings. Titled On The Sea, the drama is already drawing comparisons to Brokeback Mountain for its story of a forbidden love between two working-class blokes in a tough, isolated setting.
A secret affair begins in a small town.
At the story’s centre is Jack, played by Barry Ward, a silver fox who runs his family’s mussel-farming business in Wales. He’s married to his high school sweetheart, Maggie (Liz White), and is trying to groom his teenage son to take over the farm one day. Jack has accepted his path in life, never thinking he could want something more. That changes when a younger, wayward deckhand named Daniel (Lorne MacFadyen) arrives in town. After meeting at the pub, Jack offers him a job, and soon enough, their professional relationship gives way to a secret, passionate affair.
It is about masculinity as much as sexuality.
Director Helen Walsh, a novelist making her feature film debut, drew inspiration from a real person she knew. She told The Hollywood Reporter that a friend came out in his forties and was “completely cut adrift from his family, friend,s and community.” While that experience ended in loneliness, Walsh wanted to create a more hopeful story, reminding us that “love and compassion always triumph.”
The film’s setting on the Menai Strait of Wales is more than just a moody backdrop. Walsh uses the location to examine how certain ideas of manhood take root. “I’m interested in the ways in which hard, physical environments give rise to certain masculine ideals,” she said, explaining that in these communities, “these masculinities become closely aligned with tradition, stoicism and heterosexual marriage.”
So, is the film any good?
Early reviews suggest it is. The chemistry between the two leads is getting a lot of attention. Nikki Baughan of Screen Daily writes that “the chemistry between Jack and Daniel is palpable, and soon spills into the physical. Sex scenes are frank, sensitive and shot through with genuine feeling.”
Guy Lodge from Variety notes that while the story might follow a familiar path, it does so with exceptional skill. He says the film “traces the expected, anguished coming-out arc with rare honesty and frank, bristly sensual abandon.”
There is no word yet on a wide release date for On The Sea. We expect it will make the rounds at international film festivals for the next few months. We will be keeping an eye out for this one.
