David Turpin’s debut follows Beau (Éanna Hardwicke), an Irishman in 1988 London who takes in Tiny, a young hustler later diagnosed with AIDS. Variety praises Hardwicke’s performance and the film’s emotional force, while noting occasional overreach.
Beau and Tiny develop a nonromantic but deeply empathetic bond. After Tiny stops coming home, Beau searches London’s gay bars, clubs and cruising grounds; the film folds the search into dreamlike passages that blur reality and reverie. One recurring vision has Gloria (Christina Hendricks), a Hollywood star from café owner Maurice’s wall, recast as a guide for queer souls—an idea Variety finds heavy-handed.
The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI critics’ prize.
