Lonesome won’t appeal to everyone, but the bravery of its production choices is admirable, and when coupled with stunning cinematography and gentle yet strong performances, it is another standout example of a new wave of LGBTQ+ Aussie filmmaking. Lonesome is available to stream, rent or buy now.
Writer-director Craig Boreham’s fascinating ode to the wanderer is wrapped in a physical intimacy rarely captured on film. Boreham would turn to Grindr for casting, leading to a raw, unfiltered performance style that owes much to Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho and John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy. Casey (Josh Lavery) is a country boy drifting through the big city, arranging a series of hookups for cash.
But Casey’s journey from the outback to Sydney is not the story of a rent boy travelling from town to town earning a trade; it’s the tale of a damaged young man escaping his past through sex, his map torn and his destination uncertain as he walks the streets with a bottle of ‘Jack’ in his hand. On meeting the fiery and confident Tib (Daniel Gabriel) during a threesome, Casey finds something new, a man he can connect with physically and emotionally.
In Lonesome, sex flows through the veins of the story, from tender moments of connection to aggressive encounters and steamy group sessions. But at the centre of this carnal flow sits a beating heart full of conversations on trust, healing, self-worth and personal rebirth. Boreham’s film is about intimacy, both physical and emotional, and as a result, Casey’s journey is rich in texture, imagery, heat and sexual energy.
Lonesome won’t appeal to everyone, but the bravery of its production choices is admirable, and when coupled with stunning cinematography and gentle yet strong performances, it is another standout example of a new wave of LGBTQ+ Aussie filmmaking.
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