'God's Own Country' Is A Sexy And Muddy Tale Of A Gay Man Finding Love [Sundance Review]

PARK CITY – There is something inherently familiar about Francis Lee’s feature directorial debut “God’s Own Country” which screened for the press at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday morning. We’ve seen stories about young gay men struggling with coming out in a conservative community before. We’ve seen the young man be afraid of parents who may or may not be accepting of his sexual orientation. We’ve seen the young man then find that special guy who makes him realize he can truly be himself and come out to his family. It’s a storyline that has been prevalent in gay cinema for over 25 years. And while you know where “God’s Own” is going most of the way Lee finds a way to breathe new life into it (to a point).

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Johnny (an impressive Josh O’Connor) is in his early 20’s, but unlike his friends who are off at Uni (University for non-Brit readers) he finds himself struggling to keep the family farm afloat in the Yorkshire countryside. His father (a superb Ian Hart) has endured a slow recovery from a stroke leaving Johnny with a lonely existence as the family’s sole provider. And he expresses his unhappiness with a lack of a true social life by getting wasted almost every night at the local small-town pub. His father and grandmother (Gemma Jones) are unaware he prefers guys, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t afraid to indulge in a random hookup after an errand in town (arguably one of the most erotic gay sex scenes in a publicly screened film this writer has ever seen). When the trick approaches him afterward about getting a drink Johnny blows him off pretending it never happened. Clearly, Johnny’s has major issues with his current lot in life and what he really wants o do. Things perk up, however, when a Romanian migrant worker, the dashingly handsome Gheorghe (Edgar Ramirez look a like Alec Secareanu), shows up to work on the farm for a week. And it’s pretty obvious he’s destined to be Johnny’s love interest the second they meet so it’s up to Lee to let the story unfold in as unexpected a manner as possible.

Despite Gheorge’s obvious skill with animals and tending the farm, both Johnny and his father shows distinct prejudice toward him. Johnny even refers to him as a “gypsy” that prompts a stern “Don’t call me that” response. Gheorghe is less impressed with Johnny’s repetitive drunken behavior. Clearly, it’s going to take awhile for this love connection will truly come to pass.

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Still at odds with each other, both men are instructed to head to a far corner of the farm’s estate where they are tasked with taking care of a flock of sheep and fixing a stone wall long in need of repair. For some inexplicable reason, they camp out in this remote part of the farm for a few days instead of returning to the main house every night (is it really that far away?). Of course, the barriers break and Gheorghe provides Johnny with a level of intimacy he never though he’d experience. Things seem magical for a brief moment, but eventually Johnny does something stupid and Gheorghe leaves potentially ruining our hero’s chances at true love. Or, does it?

The story is inspired by Lee’s own experiences growing up on his family’s farm before leaving to attend drama school. What sets “God’s Own” apart from other coming out stories, however, is Lee’s exploration of the intimacy between these two men. The sex scenes are only graphic in their nudity and context, but there is a tenderness often missing from even gay independent cinema (Andrew Haigh’s “The Weekend” is a rare, recent example). For Lee that means having the camera focus on touch or some form of physical intimacy that could be missed from a far. And he has talented cinematographer Joshua James Richards to thank for making sure these moments are as subtle as they need to be. (Lee’s only real mistake is peppering the script with so much local slang that it’s hard to understand what’s being communicated at times.)

At one point during their stay in the remote part of the farm, the men succumb to their desires while unintentionally getting mud all over themselves and their partially naked bodies. Yes, it’s borderline comical but you have to credit O’Connor and Secareanu for making it seem (no pun intended) grounded, real and an expression of genuine sexual desire. Both actors make you believe these characters have honestly fallen for each other in a short time frame and O’Connor, in particular, makes Johnny’s transformation over the final third of the film heartbreaking. And that might just be enough to shine a new spotlight on a familiar story. [B-]

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