One of the standout films at the 2019 BFI Flare Film Festival, Jamie Patterson’s low budget Tucked, is a rare gem in recent LGBTQ+ cinema. Why? Well, Tucked directly explores themes of mortality, intergenerational friendships and age in the LGBTQ+ community, which deserve far more attention. Here intergenerational support, love and friendship are celebrated through a tender drama/comedy that feels like a breath of fresh air in a community obsessed with age.
Filmed over just ten days in Brighton, Tucked delivers a funny and deeply emotional character study that never seeks to play to stereotypes or clichés. Here Patterson offers us a delightful two-person play exploring generational belonging in a rapidly changing LGBTQ+ scene. Jackie or Jack (Derren Nesbitt) is an ageing drag queen who still performs on the vibrant Brighton gay scene. However, his routine is a mixture of old fashioned one-liners and lip-sync musical numbers that many now find stale as the scene marches forward. On finding out he has terminal cancer, Jackie befriends a new 21-year-old drag performer, Faith (Jordan Stephens), who is new to the scene and believes in fresh content.
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Soon the unlikely pair strike up a friendship, first of convenience and then of belonging, as Jackie prepares for his final performance and Faith learns the ropes from an old queen who has seen it all. Jamie Patterson delivers a genuinely remarkable film on a shoestring budget. Tucked celebrates life, love, and friendship and offers a profoundly emotional portrayal of the end of life. And the regrets and unsaid words people carry. Here the delightful performances of Nesbitt and Stephens bring their characters to life in glorious technicolour while equally challenging intergenerational and cultural stereotypes through humour and emotion.
Country: United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Director: Jamie Patterson
