Most of us have seen the film "Weekend" and is probably one of the top ten most liked gay films. Its no surprise when film makers take inspiration from the said film to comeuppance with something new. Following the similar pattern, this film explores the story of two gay men at a crossroads spend a summer day in Berlin together.
British guy Harry and local Berlin boy Johannes meet in a club and end up kissing each other. Earlier we see Johannes is a dancer while Harry is busy hooking up with random guys on this vacation courtesy Grindr. When the two boys meet again in morning after the club, Harry mentions that he forgot to print his boarding pass to fly back home. Johannes offers to help and in the process also offers to show him a bit of the city. They hit off well. Harry is a doctor , who prefers hooking up without having to deal with drama or the commitment of a relationship. Johannes on the other hand, reveals towards the end that he has a boyfriend and he is in an open relationship because that was what his boyfriend wanted. Over the course of their interaction, they ask each other difficult questions ranging from sexuality, careers, religion, parenthood, even the meaning of life. These conversations serves as a meaningful way of revealing their character to each other, and to create conflict.
It won't be wrong to say that this film is almost entirely centered around conversations between Harry and Johannes. Sadly, for me, after a while it started to get very boring. The boy's personalities clash resulting in some heated debates and arguments but despite that they do have an amazing chemistry. You feel as if you are in theatre where the leads are feeding off from each other's energy. They both feel a weird attraction to each other. They are intellectually and emotionally engaged by each other in a way that they haven’t been by others in a while but are both scared to take it to the next level. The film is not about their romance but more of a wake up call for both who both deserve more from life. On paper the movie would have sounded really good and I believe its getting great reviews in film festivals, but something was missing for me. I can't point fingers really. The leads were god, acting was good, they had goo chemistry but something huge was missing for me to stay engaged. The issues pointed out were also quite relevant to today's generation but...
I think we will find people of varied opinions about this film. I fall on the category where this one could have been lot more. The saving grace is that the film was barely 70 minutes long. (5/10)
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