God's Own Country Review

God's Own Country is an interesting film too say the least. Not only is it one of the most refreshing interpretations of a gay relationship, it's also a film with a lot of heart (with an exception of it's first act.) God's Own Country is a film with patience. Each scene flows at a steady pace, transitioning to the next, delivering a moment needed to develop the characters. When it comes to the first act of the film however, I personally the chemistry between Gheorghe and Johnny was mishandled. Not only did each moment in the first act feel forced and superficial, the sexual tension between Gheorghe and Johnny was a much stranger case. At one point Gheorghe exclaims "I Will Fuck With You", as if he knew that Johnny was hitting on him. Gheorghe than replies to his statement afterwords with a firm "I Know What Your Doing." I guess Romania must be one kinky place if Gheorghe is that good at detecting if someone is hitting on him. With said example, we already know that this relationship presented is a fictionalized "cheap" interpretation. With it's rough and overly sexualised under tones, there isn't much room for any romantic interpretation. It's all intercourse, but no heart. However, thankfully, after the morbid first act, things changed for the better. Johnny's relationship with Gheorghe felt real and heart felt. I just felt that the first act both ruined the overall character arks of Johnny and Gheorghe. The first act is meant to establish there relationship, and to see the evolvement of there characters. However, starting off the film with a ghastly heartless feeling between our two protagonists sort of ruined the experience of the final two acts. God's Own Country is a good directorial debut. While it is beautiful and well directed, with some great musical accompaniment here and there, the first act is what brought down the film for me. God's Own Country is definitley worth a shot. Just keep in mind that the first act may or may not ruin the experience of watching the film.

Score:
7/10