Land’s End
2019 · 20m · UK
Directed by Ben Strebel
Tones: melancholic, surreal, tender
A naive young man and a former convict embark on a road trip along the southeast coast of England, forging a magnetic and tender relationship fueled by infatuation, belonging, and the desire to escape.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Joseph Mawle plus 'Smalltown Boy' plus coastal melancholia — Klipist marketing it on the Rings of Power name is telling. Probably gorgeous, definitely the kind of film that thinks slow driving is a personality.
Strebel appears to be working in the Francis Lee tradition — God's Own Country with a Bronski Beat needle-drop — and Joseph Mawle is a serious actor to anchor a coastal queer reverie. Promising.
Klipist tags this as one of their most cinematographic films, and an 18-minute road piece anchored by Joseph Mawle (LOTR/Game of Thrones) with Bronski Beat's 'Smalltown Boy' running through it is using its production resources with intent. Coastal England + 80s queer longing has a specific texture I trust when restraint is the dominant note.
Reviews
The film's strength lies in what's unsaid, with Joseph Mawle delivering a quietly magnetic performance.
Outstanding moments of cinematography blended with 1980s nostalgia create a cinematic journey of infatuation and escape.
Festivals
- BFI Flare London LGBTQ+ Film Festival 2019