The sea, the sky and the windswept coastline of North Wales are the backdrop for On The Sea, a poignant story of masculinity and hidden desire from Helen Walsh, which receives its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2025.
Jack (Barry Ward) works and owns a company with his brother, farming mussels from the sea bed on the North Wales coast. Married to childhood sweetheart Maggie (Liz White), his tough, physical job is not made easier by the fact that his son Tom (Henry Lawfull), whom he hoped would follow in the family footsteps, shows more interest in hanging out with the local ne’er-do-wells than joining his father in the business. Among the monotony of Jack’s life and work appears an itinerant labourer Daniel (Lorne MacFadyen), who is about to set tongues wagging in the small community, and turn Jack’s world into a very different place.
On The Sea is a beautifully shot film (cinematography by Sam Goldie), making use of the abundance of shades of blue and grey in the location’s geography. Although there is passion, desire and emotion (of differing kinds) throughout, the majority of it is understated or reined in, and this all reflects the strait-laced and tight-knit community who do not value interlopers or anything which is ‘different’ from the norm. It means that even the most touching moments are still tinged with sadness and longing for what might have been.
At the centre of everything is an extremely good Barry Ward (That They May Face The Rising Sun); providing for his family, running his own business, the very epitome of what his rural community would expect a masculine role to be. But as life presents Jack with possibilities and experiences that he has long denied himself, his emotional self-torture is extremely moving.
For those who enjoy their queer cinema in the vein of God’s Own Country, On The Sea is beautiful and tragic, but perhaps not for the reason you might think.
On The Sea has its World Premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival (14th – 20th August 2025) on 16th August 2025.
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The sea, the sky and the windswept coastline of North Wales are the backdrop for On The Sea, a poignant story of masculinity and hidden desire from Helen Walsh, which receives its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2025.
Jack (Barry Ward) works and owns a company with his brother, farming mussels from the sea bed on the North Wales coast. Married to childhood sweetheart Maggie (Liz White), his tough, physical job is not made easier by the fact that his son Tom (Henry Lawfull), whom he hoped would follow in the family footsteps, shows more interest in hanging out with the local ne’er-do-wells than joining his father in the business. Among the monotony of Jack’s life and work appears an itinerant labourer Daniel (Lorne MacFadyen), who is about to set tongues wagging in the small community, and turn Jack’s world into a very different place.
On The Sea is a beautifully shot film (cinematography by Sam Goldie), making use of the abundance of shades of blue and grey in the location’s geography. Although there is passion, desire and emotion (of differing kinds) throughout, the majority of it is understated or reined in, and this all reflects the strait-laced and tight-knit community who do not value interlopers or anything which is ‘different’ from the norm. It means that even the most touching moments are still tinged with sadness and longing for what might have been.
At the centre of everything is an extremely good Barry Ward (That They May Face The Rising Sun); providing for his family, running his own business, the very epitome of what his rural community would expect a masculine role to be. But as life presents Jack with possibilities and experiences that he has long denied himself, his emotional self-torture is extremely moving.
For those who enjoy their queer cinema in the vein of God’s Own Country, On The Sea is beautiful and tragic, but perhaps not for the reason you might think.
On The Sea has its World Premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival (14th – 20th August 2025) on 16th August 2025.
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