August 10, 2023

This packs quite a lot into twenty-five minutes. "Léto" (Sohan Pague) is an ostensibly gay lad living in a fairly rough French housing estate. He hooks up, in the dark, now and again and is bullied pretty relentlessly by the homophobic thugs who live nearby. He has another secret though - that's one we gradually assume rather than are told about - and that's where this rather falls down. You have to watch for yourself to see what I mean, but the … read the rest.

This packs quite a lot into twenty-five minutes. "Léto" (Sohan Pague) is an ostensibly gay lad living in a fairly rough French housing estate. He hooks up, in the dark, now and again and is bullied pretty relentlessly by the homophobic thugs who live nearby. He has another secret though - that's one we gradually assume rather than are told about - and that's where this rather falls down. You have to watch for yourself to see what I mean, but the rest of the film really would have benefitted from a clearer statement of identity so we could better understand just how "Léto" was coming to terms with his complicated sexuality. The photography has an intensity to it that could be intrusive, but isn't - it's quite engaging as we share a lifestyle that is futile and unrewarding until, well, "Hamza" (Issa Al Issa) appears working at the car park by the local ice rink, and things take what might just be a turn for the better. Pague is quite effective here, and as we fill in the gaps ourselves, the story starts to pan out nicely and offering us a "work in progress" ending. Certainly worth a watch.

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