Starring: Joe Anders, Samuel Paul Small, Alison Sudol, Jack Davenport
Director: Julia Jackman
Country: UK
UK Distributor: Sky Cinema
In 2006, teenager George (Anders) is uninspired in his Music classes, even though he dreams of becoming a pop star. But when Max (Small) arrives, the son of an actual pop star, the two begin an unlikely friendship as they start writing a song together for the school’s talent show. Before long, the friendship builds into something deeper, with the teenage angst of discovering one’s sexuality exacerbated by the paparazzi now popping up at the most inopportune moments.
Feeling like Sing Street meets Young Royals, the high school coming-of-age movie is saccharine sweet and perfect for the newfound story-hungry teen-Queer audience in the wake of the success of Heartstopper. George is a fairly unremarkable boy, so his falling in love with the heartthrob son of a music legend is the stuff of adolescent fantasy, albeit with all the glamour of Year 11 Maths revision. And while the realism of George’s world – lessons, uniform, messy bedroom, arguing parents – is entirely present, the realism of Max’s isn’t. Sure, there’s one journalist following them and the boy has a chauffeur, but the glamour that the filmmakers are alluding to is decidedly absent from the film. And even meeting his “iconic” Dad in the final act doesn’t really provide light or shade.
This is a simple story, told simply with simple characters and simple composition. It certainly does the job and will certainly set young LGBT+ hearts ra-acing, but aside from serving a quaint slice of nostalgia, there’s not much here for an older, more sophisticated, audience. And while the song they compose together is actually quite good… (Thank you, Olly Alexander!) …the film’s ultimate finale doesn’t quite have the feel-good fist-pump that you might expect.
There’s certainly nothing offensive or dislikeable on show here, but there’s similarly very little to arrest our attention. It’s a nice way to spend a few hours, but so is going for a walk.
UK Release: Out now to stream on NOW TV, released by Sky Cinema
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