This film does not have a shred of originality. Juliet Stevenson does her best and as usual gives a good performance, but she stood alone. But I will pass over the inadequacies of the acting and get to what I think is the core of what is wrong. This is not appealing to LGBT audiences, and the badly done male sexuality will probably put off the straight audience too. Both stories of mother and son deserve more depth, and there is too much padding and references to 'art' such as Dvorak, Proust, etc, etc. There is a nod to Rimbaud and one of his poems about a shot soldier although those who do not know the poem probably would not notice. And water!!! What is it with supposedly gay themed films that we either have shower scenes, bathing scenes or something else to do with the element? The ending is water and I have no idea what was going on. Death by water or rebirth by water? In short, depressing and morbid. And why too did the father have to be gay? I thought of Techine, and missed his clarity. It is set in France, but no one seems to live in the village except for the late teen who is the obscure object of desire for both mother ans son. I cannot give this film a rating at all.
Review of Departure
