Directed By Goran Stolevski

Starring – Thom Green, Elias Anton, Hattie Hook

The Plot – Set in the summer of 1999 as an 17-year-old Serbian born, Australian amateur ballroom dancer (Anton) experiences an unexpected and intense 24-hour romance with a friend’s older brother (Green).

Rated R for adult language throughout, sexual content and some drug use

Of An Age – Official Trailer – Only In Theaters February 17 – YouTube

POSITIVES

Love stories are a dime a dozen in cinema, but what makes Stolevski’s tale of obsession on the road capably stand out above the rest is the seamless execution of his depiction, which not only helps to bridge the gap once more between gay and straight relationships on film, but also supplants what is currently my film to beat in the first quarter of a very early cinematic calendar. It attains this merit in the form of authenticity, whether in the spell-binding chemistry of its two leads unraveling throughout an initially tense and protective engagement, to the immersive qualities in production that help to give us a passenger side seat to their blossoming dynamic. Stolevski’s decades of experience behind the director’s chair helps to vividly convey these feelings and internal conflicts long before the brilliant dialogue ever affords them a chance to, with tightly-framed, meticulously-placed cinematography from Matthew Chuang bringing his own indie style vibes to the meaningful merit of the shot compositions. For instance, the film is shot with a 4:3 aspect ratio, which effortlessly articulates the claustrophobic disposition of their initial interaction, but with the balance of the framing slowly expanding so that each of them eventually are depicted simultaneosuly in the same shot, evolves their dynamic fluidly to allow it to grow before our very eyes, in turn serving as the burning fire between them that begins with the logs of brilliantly orchestrated dialogue to spark the fuse. It’s the kind of dialogue that rewards audiences to hang on to every word to channel the conflicts from within that feel like they could swallow each of them whole with feelings of longing and suppression from beneath, but equally the kind that articulately conveys the mental chess game between Adam and Kol that made it such a delight to continuously lose myself in, with a subtle but periodic consistency of naturalistic humor for tension-breaking levity between them. For performances, Anton in particular zeroes in on an isolation factor of loneliness and longing that easily made him such a compelling protagonist, and with the comfort instilled from Green’s limitless charisma, gives us enough fuel for the long-distance trip between them that begins with two men and a windshield, but ends with an irreplacable bond between them that takes the film’s setting across eleven years. For the dual narrative between 1999 and 2010, the film is blessed with subtlety in wardrobe designs and a surprisingly influential pop culture soundtrack to capably date its conscience without downright spelling it out, but as for the storytelling between arcs surmizes a valued importance between the past and present that easily keeps the narrative entertaining throughout the 95 minute run time, all the while proving for Adam and Kol that time may change many things with their looks, personalities and priorities, but it absolutely cannot change the bond between them that was cemented on the ride between them that never stopped moving forward.

NEGATIVES

There isn’t much about this film that I can confidently critique or throw caution to the reader about what they might be getting themselves into, but one monumental flaw that I absolutely won’t apologize for calling out is the abruptly ambiguous ending that wraps matters up at the most inappropriate time for where the resolution was headed. I can certainly understand what Stolevski was going for in Adam and Kol sharing a bond that transcended all space and time with their respective families and responsibilities, but it’s such an abrupt cut that it almost unintentionally feels like the movie ran out of film and ideas simultaneously, leading to an inevitably frustrating ending that will lead to groans in the audience, regardless of ones interest and appreciation to what is otherwise a nearly perfect film from the writer/director. Beyond this, my only other remote gripe with the film are some intricate elements with the movie’s sound design, which while effective in immersing us into a platitude of varying environments and off-screen influences, did obscure the clarity of the dialogue at least initially in the early developments of getting to know these characters. This could provide an unnecessary obstacle for people’s initial investments to the narrative, taking a bit longer to finding the movie’s groove than intended, but for me personally it took away too much opportunity to further experience the perfection in dialogue that I previously heralded, landing on the rare but real side of too much environmental influence that overstepped its boundaries aggressively.

OVERALL
“Of an Age” is a blossoming love story between star-crossed lovers that are defined by good connection and bad timing. With a duo of magnetic performances from Green and Anton, as well as a dual narrative between respective timelines magnifying their suppressed feelings, the film is tender, tantalizing and even torturous when it needs to be, fighting through an abruptly disappointing ending to give us a respectful representation of queer love, with all of the heart and humanity of those entranced under its helpless gaze.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+