Weekend (2011)

After a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club. Just before closing time he picks up Glen but what's expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else, something special.

Director:

Andrew Haigh

Writer:

Andrew Haigh

Stars:

Tom Cullen, Chris New, Jonathan Race

23 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Cullen	...	Russell
Chris New	...	Glen
Jonathan Race	...	Jamie
Laura Freeman	...	Jill
Loreto Murray	...	Cathy (as Loretto Murray)
Jonathan Wright	...	Johnny
Sarah Churm	...	Helen
Vauxhall Jermaine	...	Damien
Joe Doherty	...	Justin
Kieran Hardcastle	...	Sam
Mark Devenport	...	Straight Man in Bar (as Mark Davenport)
Steve Blackman	...	Straight Man in Bar
Julius Metson Scott	...	Paul
Martin Arrowsmith	...	Martin
Caroline Woolley	...	House Party Girl 1

Storyline

On a Friday night after a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club, alone and on the pull. Just before closing time he picks up Glen but what's expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else, something special. That weekend, in bars and in bedrooms, getting drunk and taking drugs, telling stories and having sex, the two men get to know each other. It is a brief encounter that will resonate throughout their lives. Weekend is both an honest and unapologetic love story between two guys and a film about the universal struggle for an authentic life in all its forms. It is about the search for identity and the importance of making a passionate commitment to your life.

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Plot Keywords:

fellatio | nudity | nightclub | intimacy | oral sex | 

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Taglines:

A (sort of) love story between two guys over a cold weekend in October.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #622.

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Goofs

When Russell is anxiously waiting for Glen to arrive at the train station, the train announcements in the background indicate that the time is around 6.30pm, however in the next scene when both characters have gone through the barrier onto the platform, the background train announcements indicate the time time is now around 5pm.

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Quotes

Glen: Well, you know what it's like when you first sleep with someone you don't know?
Russell: Yes.
Glen: It's... you, like, become this blank canvas and it gives you an opportunity to project onto that canvas who you want to be. That's what's interesting because everybody does that.
Russell: So do you think that I did it?
Glen: Course you did. Well, what happens is while you're projecting who you want to be... this gap opens up between who you want to be and who you really are. And in that gap, it shows you what's stopping you ...

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Connections

Featured in Romantic Comedy (2019)

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Soundtracks

Oubliette
Written by Claire Robbin, Adam Stark, James Whyard, and James Pritchard
Performed by Milk

User Reviews

Movie with a Human Agenda

In "Weekend," a beautifully acted and written indie drama from writer/director (and editor) Andrew Haigh, two gay men fall heavily for each other over the course of a 2 or 3 day period, each getting at something in the other that no one before had managed to do. But this is not a "gay" movie, and people who stay away from it because they think it has a gay agenda, or that it has nothing to say to them, or who are simply uncomfortable with the sight of two men having sex, will deny themselves the pleasure of seeing a film with a universal message about what it's like to be lonely and the search for meaningful human connections that kind of loneliness motivates.

It's not that Haigh avoids addressing the complications of being gay in the present day. Part of what I admired about the film was that it put being gay, and the constant energy it takes on the part of gay men to either fight or ignore the ignorance and hostility they must constantly endure, in a context that anybody can understand. The film's central character, Russell (Tom Cullen), has been raised as a foster child in a "straight" environment. His foster brother knows he's gay and is accepting of it, but even at that, Russell's time with his brother and his brother's family only accentuates the desolate fact that the kind of "normal" happiness his brother enjoys (the solidarity of a strong marriage, children) is something that at best he will have to fight for or at worst will be denied altogether. The bitterness this harsh reality can create in gay men is illustrated in the character of Glen (Chris New), a crusader who believes happiness in marriage is a sham perpetrated by the straight community and that attempts at finding contentment and satisfaction in a life partner are akin to tilting at windmills.

Cullen and New deliver award-worthy performances, so it's a shame that this film's size and subject matter will deny it any kind of major awards attention. The film is actually breathtaking at moments, albeit in an unassuming way, in its frankness and its ability to capture perfectly in words ideas about the way our societies treat relationships, commitments and love that I had only half articulated to myself. It would be easy to believe that Haigh found two non-actors roaming the streets, asked them to star in a movie, gave them situations to play out without a script, and filmed the results. It's that authentic.

I hope people see this movie.

Grade: A

Details

Official Sites:

Official Blog Official Facebook

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 2011 (UK)

Also Known As:

Weekend

Filming Locations:

Nottingham Railway Station, Carrington Street, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP120,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$27,245, 25 September 2011

Gross USA:

$484,592

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,192,003

Company Credits

Production Co:

EM Media, Glendale Picture Company, Synchronicity Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1