Weekend (2011 film)


Weekend is a 2011 British romantic drama film directed by Andrew Haigh and starring Tom Cullen and Chris New as two men who meet and begin a sexual relationship the weekend before one of them plans to leave the country. The film won much praise and critical acclaim after premiering at the SXSW festival in the US, and was a success at the box office in the UK and the US, where it received a limited release.

Plot

On a Friday night in Nottingham, Russell attends a house party with friends. He assures his best friend Jamie that he will be there on Sunday for his daughter's birthday. Russell leaves early, but decides to go to a gay club, alone and looking for a hookup. Just before closing time he meets Glen, an art student, and they have sex back at Russell's apartment. The next morning, Glen coaxes a hesitant Russell to speak into a voice recorder about their experience the previous night. Glen tells him this is for an art project. The more reserved Russell is taken aback by Glen's blunt discussion of sex. After Russell finishes, they exchange numbers and Glen leaves. Russell is shown writing about Glen on his laptop, evidently something he does after each of his encounters.
Russell, who works as a lifeguard, spends a lonely morning at the pool, at one point intently watching a gay couple interact. He texts Glen, who agrees to meet. The two begin to learn about each other's careers, their aspirations, and even share a bicycle ride back to Russell's flat, where they continue to discover more about each other's pasts. Glen explains that his art project seeks to explore the gap between who people truly are and who they want to be, as demonstrated by the personas they take on when hooking up with someone new for the first time. Russell reveals that he never came out to his parents because he doesn't know who they are; he grew up in a series of foster homes with his best friend Jamie. Growing closer after their conversation, they have sex.
About to leave, Glen then discloses that he had been planning to move to Oregon the next day to attend a two-year art course. Both are visibly upset, but stay affectionate. On a whim, Glen invites him to his goodbye party at a straight bar that night, and later Russell decides to go. While Glen is getting into an argument about heteronormativity with the bar owner, Russell chats with Jill, Glen's friend and flatmate. She first tells Russell that she never got to listen to his recording; Glen had let her listen to all of his others. She then confides in Russell that she and her friends don't expect Glen to follow through with his trip to America, to the point that they've started a bet. She also discloses that Glen had been in a relationship with someone named John, who cheated on Glen repeatedly and was attacked at a park shortly before the relationship ended. Since then, Glen has said he "doesn't do boyfriends."
Russell and Glen leave the bar, ditching Glen's friends, and head to a nearby carnival. Glen admits he's excited to leave, as he feels like his friends here have held him back. After enjoying their time at the park, they return to Russell's apartment and smoke marijuana, drink alcohol, and snort cocaine.
Russell confesses that like Glen's art project, he has been recording his experiences, albeit more privately. He reads some of his entries to Glen, at which time it is revealed that one of the men Russell had slept with had been John, Glen's ex-boyfriend. They begin to argue about the motivations for the fight for gay marriage given Glen's anti-relationship stance. Russell confronts Glen, telling him that he thinks he's only lost faith in relationships because of John. Glen rebukes him and tells him it's not that simple, and says that while he thinks Russell would make an amazing boyfriend, he doesn't want one right now. Russell is upset and steps away to the bathroom. He returns and they reconcile, and share a tender kiss. With all that has happened, they passionately make love that night.
Now Sunday morning, they talk in bed. Russell opens up about how self-conscious he feels in public about being gay. Glen deduces that part of the reason Russell keeps a record of his encounters is because he is fascinated by how people come out. Glen then pretends to be Russell's father, and gives Russell the opportunity to finally come out. Glen notes that he'll be leaving by train later that afternoon, while Russell has Jamie's daughter's birthday party to attend. Russell searches for the right way to say goodbye, but Glen shushes him and leaves with a kiss.
At the party, Russell makes a feeble attempt to stay interested, but he is clearly distracted. Jamie is able to persuade Russell to talk about what's on his mind, even though they don't usually talk about this part of Russell's life. After Russell explains his angst over the weekend's events, Jamie suggests taking Russell to the train station to see Glen off. Russell is there in time to see Glen show up at the station.
As the two wait for the train to arrive, Russell struggles to convey how much their chance encounter has meant to him. Glen stops him, just as he himself begins to hold back tears. They kiss in public, notable for the usually restrained Russell. Glen gives Russell a present, and with one last kiss, Glen leaves. Later, looking out from the window in his apartment, Russell opens the present and finds the voice recorder that Glen had used the morning after their first night. He presses play, and hears himself begin to recount what was the beginning of an unforgettable weekend.

Cast

Much of the film was shot on location in Nottingham in late 2010. The promotion and production stills were shot by photography team Quinnford & Scout, whose work inspired Haigh's design on location. The duo also make a cameo in the film.
During a Q&A session at the IFI in Dublin on 11 November 2011, Director Andrew Haigh said the film's budget was "around 120,000" — not specifying a currency.
According to Cullen, much of the action and dialogue was improvised: "Andrew, Chris and I really tore the script to pieces... I could literally throw anything at and he would respond accordingly. When we started each scene, we were never entirely sure where it would go".

Release

Weekend received its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas in March 2011. It screened at other North American festivals, including the Maryland Film Festival. It was released theatrically in the United States on 23 September 2011 and in the United Kingdom on 4 November 2011.

Critical reception

Weekend has been critically acclaimed. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 95% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 72 reviews, with an average score of 8/10. The website's critical consensus reads "It may be a chamber piece but Weekend's revelations on modern sexuality expand far beyond the modest setting." Roger Ebert described it as "a smart, sensitive, perceptive film, with actors well suited to the dialogue."
Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe wrote it is “One of the truest, most beautiful movies ever made about two strangers.” Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly wrote “British filmmaker Andrew Haigh‘s background in editing is evident in the casual beauty of moments that only appear “found,” giving Weekend an engrossing documentary feel.” Eric Hynes from the Village Voice wrote: “Naturalistic without being ineloquent, heartfelt yet unsentimental, Weekend is the rarest of birds: a movie romance that rings true.” Lena Dunham named it as one of her top 10 Criterion Films, saying "This just wrecked me. I went in knowing nothing except that gay men are my target demo and came out stunned by the subtlety and sensitivity of Andrew Haigh’s direction."

Awards and nominations

The film has received several awards and nominations:
A "director-approved special edition" of Weekend was released by The Criterion Collection on both DVD and Blu-ray on 21 August 2012. The release includes a high-definition digital master of the film; new interviews with cast and crew; two of Cullen's and New's joint audition scenes; two short films by Haigh: Cahuenga Blvd. and Five Miles Out ; and additional features.

Banning of film in Catholic Church cinemas

The film was restricted to 10 cinemas on its release in Italy on 10 March 2016 after the country's bishops branded Andrew Haigh's acclaimed gay love story "indecent" and "unusable" in the country's many church-owned film theaters. The film was shunned by the more than 1,100 cinemas owned by the Catholic Church that comprise the bulk of Italy's network of independent/arthouse theaters. The country's official film board approved the film for audiences over 14.