GOD’S OWN COUNTRY – Review

GOD’S OWN COUNTRY is award-winning British independent film, a romantic drama set in a windswept rural landscape of northern England, where a young gay man struggles with working the family farm and angrily drifts through life, until an immigrant arrives as a temporary hired hand and changes the young farmer’s view on life. In this contemporary film set in the sheep farming area of rural northern England, GOD’S OWN COUNTRY is a tale of self-discovery and unexpected love.

The film, the first from writer/director Francis Lee, debuted at Sundance in 2017 and was well received at other film festivals, winning awards for the film, its script and lead actor Josh O’Connor. It is being released in theaters in Britain on Jan. 29 but it is available in the U.S. on Blu-ray, DVD and digitally starting the same day from Lionsgate and Picturehouse Entertainment.

Johnny Saxby (Josh O’Connor from THE DURRELLS) resents his life of constant routine, tending to the family farm on his own since his father Martin became disabled while his grandmother Deidre cares for him. At night, Johnny gets drunk at the local pub and engages in casual sex. It is hard to tell if Johnny is a teen or young adult in his hoodie, driving a 4-wheeler to care for the cows, and getting drunk in town every night. Johnny gets the work done, but his grandmother scolds him in the morning about the drinking and his partly disabled dad criticizes him about how he does the chores. There is a sense of anger and resentment among all the family members who nonetheless know they need each other to run the farm.

When dad tells Johnny he has hired an immigrant as a temporary worker during lambing season. it is one more thing for Johnny to resent. When he picks up the hired hand, Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), at the bus station, Johnny is surly and he quizzes him about where he’s from. When the polite newcomer says Romania, Johnny promptly calls him a Gypsy, not a promising start. Later, when the two men are sent off a remote part of the farm to work with the lambs being born, things change.

The immigrant changes the life of young Johnny but not because he discovers he is gay – he already knows that, as well as some friends in the village, and no one seems to pay much attention to that. The casual sex he has is with other young men, but he makes no emotional connection with them. He really connects emotionally with no one. When he runs into an old school friend outside the pub where he gets drunk nightly, a woman who has left for college but is back on break, he resists her friendly invitation to join her and friends, a conversation indicates she knows he’s gay. When he refused, she says he used to be fun but Johnny snarls that was before he had to deal with the real world.

No, it is not his sexuality that Johnny discovers but love and a grown-up perspective. What the newcomer changes for Johnny is his view of his life, breaking him out of prolonged adolescence and letting him grow up and take charge of his life as adult, one who can meet responsibilities as well as have control of his life’s direction. It is the kind of life-changing experience that finding love can be for anyone, gay or straight.

GOD’S OWN COUNTRY is two films, in a way. On one hand, this film is a beautiful romance, full of sweeping vistas and two attractive people falling in love, like any love story, just that this couple happen to be gay. On the other hand, it is a voyage of self-discovery, a kind of coming-of-age story, in which a young man helping his aging family begins to see what he is doing from an adult’s rather than child’s viewpoint, seeing his situation with new eyes. The way that story is resolved is refreshing, because it has Johnny taking on a new role rather than just leaving and running away to a new life, as many films do. Instead, the immigrant helps him see what he already has and changes the whole picture for everyone.

Beautiful photography of a brooding, windswept landscape, which is showcased in several scenes. The gorgeous scenery is one reason to see this film. An attractive cast is another reason, and there are a few gay sex scenes and frontal male nudity.

The acting is strong. Josh O’Connor is the main focus but all four primary cast members creating rounded and ultimately sympathetic characters. We learn less about Gheorghe than Johnny but we do sense a gentleness and a sadness in him. He also grew up on a farm, and enjoys the work but something changed that forced him to leave. Gheorghe treats the animals with an affection and concern Johnny does not always show towards them, at least at first. Asked if he will go back home, Gheorghe says no, and adds “My country’s dead. You can’t throw a rock in most towns without hitting an old lady crying for her children who have gone.” It is a poignant moment.

One difficulty some American audiences might have is understanding the thick northern English accents, but generally the meaning of scenes comes through, even if you do not catch every word. The DVD and Blu-ray include some extras, deleted scenes or extended scenes from the film as well as the trailer.

GOD’S OWN COUNTRY is a film that exceeds the expectations of just a gay romance in a windswept, ruggedly romantic location, by offering fine performances and a touching tale of self-discovery.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars