God’s Own Country

This screening took place on Monday, March 26, 2018 at 7:45 pmYukon Arts Centre

Writer-director Francis Lee announces himself as a major talent with this remarkable, award-winning debut; he has crafted a sharply observed, richly textured and thrillingly sensual story about the redemptive powers of love and self-acceptance. - VIFF Johnny Saxby (Josh O’Connor) works long hours on his family’s remote farm in the north of England. He numbs the daily frustration of his lonely existence with nightly binge-drinking at the local pub and casual sex. But when a handsome Romanian migrant worker (Alec Secareanu) arrives to take up temporary work on the family farm, Johnny suddenly finds himself having to deal with emotions he has never felt before. As they begin working closely together during lambing season, an intense relationship starts to form, which could change Johnny’s life forever. Mature themes and sexuality; parental guidance recommended. "God's Own Country is writer-director Francis Lee's debut and comparisons to Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain are inevitable. But where Brokeback was sweeping Wyoming vistas and homophobic backlash, this enigmatic little film says it all in razor-sharp closeups and minimal words, where one small gesture – Johnny's two fingers rubbing his dad's calloused knuckle – speaks volumes about love and redemption in this unforgiving land." Gayle MacDonald, The Globe and Mail