It’s sad that, in 2023, we are still finding places around the world (even throughout the U.S.) where LGBTQ folks are being ostracized and forced to hide their sexuality for fear of public reprisals. That’s where the power of a film like “Blue Jean” comes into play, showing how this is a story that has been going on for decades, pointing out that even though we’ve made huge strides as a society, there is still so, so much more we need to do.
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As seen in the trailer for “Blue Jean,” the film tells the story of Jean, a gym teacher in 1988 English, who has to keep her sexuality a secret due to the Thatcher-led government on the verge of passing a law that would stigmatize LGBTQ lifestyles. Jean’s situation is made even more tense when she discovers one of her own students is being bullied for her sexuality, forcing the teacher to reckon with the fallout of living a double life. The film stars Rosy McEwen in the title role. “Blue Jean” also marks the directorial debut of Georgia Oakley.
In our review of the film out of last year’s Venice Film Festival, we said “Blue Jean” is “brilliant” and added, “It’s to the huge credit of Oakley, also the sole writer on ‘Blue Jean’ — the talent! — that the moral complexities here are so readily embraced…Among the bold choices here is to have Jean herself make a series of deeply unlikeable, unconscionable decisions in aid of her own safety and security. Though deeply flawed, it’s to the testament of the page and McEwen’s profoundly believable performance that Jean is sympathetic to the end, the portrait of a woman caught in a web of societal hatred.”
“Blue Jean” debuts in theaters on June 9. You can watch the trailer below.
Here’s the synopsis:
In Georgia Oakley’s stunning directorial debut BLUE JEAN, it’s 1988 England and Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government is about to pass a law stigmatizing gays and lesbians, forcing Jean (Rosy McEwen, in a powerhouse performance), a gym teacher, to live a double life. As pressure mounts from all sides, the arrival of a new student catalyzes a crisis that will challenge Jean to her core. The BAFTA-nominated film won the Venice Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award, as well as four British Independent Film Awards.