It baffles me seeing people dismiss this film as "another gay drama/tragedy". Adam being gay is important to the story? Absolutely. But the narrative is not only about him being gay. It's also about a person who never really grew up because they never had the chance to; It's about someone who's miserably lonely because they cling too much to the past and can't look forward to the future; it's about dealing with unprocessed trauma and moving on in the modern world. And not only that, it's also very original and masterfully crafted. It's beautiful. It could easily be adapted into a story of the contemporary lonely straight man starring Ryan Gosling and people would lose it.

Another gay tragedy -_- I'm gay and tired of this

I'm usually drawn to movies that challenge me to relate to a perspective that's different from my own, so this movie's theme and approach intrigued me right from the start. It's essentially a character study about a gay man who's trying to escape a life of loneliness and alienation explored through the relationship with his dead parents and a love interest played by Paul Mescal. All four of the performances are excellent, this will probably be the defining role of Andrew Scott's career and his performance being overlooked by the Academy doesn't sit well with me. There's so much authentic detail in his body language, manner of speech and eye movement that deserves to be recognized because it carries the entire film. I was really impressed by the scenes between him, Bell and Foy, illustrating that while times have changed for the better, his character is still an outsider to society. Those scenes probably won't work for everyone (you could call them out for being shallow as it's all a product of his imagination), but I was very moved by the eventual pay-off. The film's answer to its central question of alienation I found a little less satisfying, as it struck me as too obvious. The final shot and needle drop in particular spell things out too much, though the scene leading up to that moment pulls off a satisfying final twist. The technical aspects of the film are easily among its biggest selling points. It's a great vibe movie, one of the best I've seen in a while. The colour and lighting create a feeling of intimacy that sometimes leans in the direction of sensuality, while other times feeling more comforting or nostalgic. It's because of that approach that the film doesn't come off as dreary, the inherent sadness always feels understated. Aside from the aforementioned scene I think the music choices are all great (loved the use of Death of a Party by Blur), however the droning score was a little bland by comparison. It's the right kind of score given the kind of film that it is, but they could've done so much more with the textures. Still, this is a really good film that I expect to remembered as more people discover it. Its appeal might seem niche, but the emotion is universally relatable. 7.5/10

Directing & writing so intimate yet universally relevant to the human experience, four outstanding performances, beautiful crafts, an ending that’ll leave people to discuss & dissect, and countless tearjerking moments. A great film. Bravo to everyone involved.