Hollywood has a tendency to look at life through rose-tinted glasses – but take them away and things are often much more interesting. Low-budget British production Weekend offers a genuinely unconventional love story without the usual frills and sugary sweetness, becoming all the more memorable for that.
After a tame night in with a group of straight, settled friends, Russell (Tom Cullen) heads alone to a local gay bar on the hunt for a more exciting end to his evening. He finds it there with Glen (Chris New): waking up together the next morning, the pair turn a one-night stand into a two-day session, getting to know each other over a heady weekend of drink, drugs and sex. A sudden revelation from Glen, however, soon throws a spanner in the works, and their short time together takes on a meaning neither of them could have imagined.
Knocking back a hefty number of shots and lines of coke, the couple share their stories of lust, loss and life, throwing light on the expectations and potential difficulties of modern-day romance as they do. Russell, uncomfortable with his own sexuality, rejects Glens claim that he doesn’t believe in relationships, leading to heated discussions on intimacy, loneliness, homophobia and the importance of facing your true feelings. It may sound heavy – and slightly cringeworthy – but it’s this ability to raise these questions without forcing them on you that’s part of the films charm.
Relying on dialogue rather than action, there is a risk of boredom and cliché – and director Andrew Haigh effortlessly avoids both. Where Russell is reserved, hesitant and coy, Glen is forward, brash and brazen, but the lines begin to blur as the film goes on and it’s a compelling watch when they do. From their initial hungover awkwardness to their later closeness, the often brutal honesty and the unmistakable chemistry between these two characters – played brilliantly by Cullen and New – is refreshingly realistic; they’re so familiar and relatable that it’s hard not to, in a weird way, feel protective of them and root for what they could have.
Somewhere along the lines of Before Sunrise meets Brief Encounter, Weekend is a gem. Touching without being overly sentimental and realistic without being too severe, it’s a genuinely unusual and original film that rethinks the love story as we know it.
Orlaith Grehan
