It is rare to find a film that manages to transport an audience so effectively, yet this 2024 Cannes premiere achieves exactly that by immersing viewers in the 1990s and the HIV/AIDS reality faced by gay and bisexual men during those years. Rather than feeling like a modern production reflecting on the past, it functions as a proper time capsule that feels as though it could have been produced during that very era. Given how surprisingly hard it is to find gay-themed films set against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis, this work feels especially necessary. The story at its center is warm enough to allow almost anyone to connect with it, and the film handles the period’s emotions with a palpable sense of love and respect.
The narrative begins in 1990, centered on a moment at a party where a young couple, Sammy and Emma, both kiss a stranger who offers them ecstasy. This encounter triggers a shift in Sammy, leading him to reveal his bisexuality to Emma; though caught off guard, she responds well. A few years pass, and as the pair prepares to move into a new flat, they are joined by their son, Nathan. Their neighbor, a renowned photographer named Cyril, experiences an immediate creative spark upon seeing Sammy and Nathan and asks to photograph them. While Cyril is HIV positive and managing his condition with AZT, his health remains stable. An irresistible pull draws Sammy and Cyril together into a relationship, one where Cyril is transparent about his status and Sammy remains unfazed. When Emma eventually discovers them together, the trio avoids a breakdown by sitting down to work through the situation like adults. This stability shatters when Sammy falls ill; the diagnosis is brutal, revealing he has full blown AIDS and has carried the virus since long before meeting Cyril, leaving him with only a few years to live. Emma also tests positive, though her viral load is manageable, while Nathan is thankfully negative. In an attempt to maximize their remaining time, Cyril even proposes marrying Emma so that Nathan can inherit from him after he passes. Following Sammy’s death, time moves on, and while Cyril remains a fixture in Nathan’s life, Emma’s practical nature leads her to decide that she and Nathan must find their own footing, and that Cyril deserves the freedom to move forward. This loss devastates Cyril, causing his photography to dry up almost entirely. Although Emma ends the marriage, she remains a close friend and eventually helps him organize a final exhibit. This collection is built around photographs from a trip to Italy that all four of them—Emma, Sammy, Cyril, and Nathan—took together during those final shared years.
I respect the filmmakers for avoiding the melodrama that a story like this could have easily succumbed to. Rather than leaning into excess, the film offers a quietly mature examination of non-traditional family structures and open relationships; while some might find the sight of these three building such a tight-knit, real connection difficult to grasp, the presentation is so natural that it simply works. The narrative flows seamlessly through various emotional registers—from the early charm of their meeting and the dreamlike little moments to the shocks, surprises, grief, and eventual acceptance—without ever feeling forced. This tenderness is rooted in the lovely nature of the characters and the actors, who seem entirely at home in their roles. Sammy is a particular standout; he is a real find, appearing as a totally believable, warm dad, making it easy to understand why both Emma and Cyril would fall for him. Visually, the film is beautiful, with the Italy sequences possessing a gorgeous quality. Even the handling of Sammy’s death, characterized by his quiet final goodbyes, uses such restraint that the impact is heightened by the subtlety rather than diminished by it. The film avoids leaving the viewer in darkness, instead offering a sense of a future worth looking forward to, with Emma carrying hope for a healthy life and Cyril finding someone new, leaving the door open rather than shut. I left feeling truly moved and glad I watched it. However, it does make me wonder if younger audiences—those two or three generations removed from the actual look and feel of the 80s and 90s—will be able to connect with it, given there are entire generations who know very little about what that period truly meant for so many. I hope this film travels and finds the audience it deserves. (7.5/10)
