Who We Love
In his deeply felt drama Graham Cantwell explores Dublin’s LGBTQ community.
Image courtesy of Peccadillo Pictures.
Back in 2016 the Irish filmmaker Graham Cantwell made an award-winning short entitled Lily in which the titular figure was a schoolgirl living in Dublin who was starting to realise that she was lesbian. Five years later Cantwell reworked that film by developing it into a feature this time in collaboration with a co-writer, Katie McNeice. Both of them would win awards for it at the 2021 Kerry Film Festival, but in spite of that Who We Love is only now getting a release in the UK and that through streaming platforms. What stands out here is the depth of commitment on everybody's part and it's a feature which readily encourages one to take pleasure in the film regardless of the fact that it has shortcomings.
One factor that is striking about this elaborated treatment is the number of players who appear in the same roles that they took in Lily. Among those returning are Clara Harte who plays Lily and Dean Quinn who appears as Lily's best friend, the overtly gay Simon. The fact that both of these characters are school pupils means that by 2021 the players were in theory decidedly too old to resume their roles, but in the event they give such dedicated performances that one readily accepts the casting. That's important because these are very much the key roles.
Following participation in an exchange programme that has taken her to San Francisco for a while, Lily has returned to Dublin having now kissed a girl and newly aware of what it means to find herself attracted to another pupil, Violet (Venetia Bowe). How that potential relationship will develop is a key thread in the story along with the question of whether or not Lily will come out to her parents (Paul Ronan and Aisling O’Neill) and how they will respond. But equally the focus is on Simon and on his behaviour in the school where he defiantly refuses to tone down his obvious gayness and openly makes outspoken remarks, the more outrageous the better. His father (Jimmy Smallhorne) cannot but be aware that his son is gay and is unable to warm to him, but his attitude only encourages Simon to make friends in Dublin's gay community. One among them is Oonagh (Amy-Joyce Hastings) and when Simon realises that Lily is at a stage in her self-realisation when she needs help he introduces her to Oonagh.
The way in which Simon goes out of his way to assist Lily makes him a central figure in the story rather than the kind of supporting figure that can simply be categorised as ‘gay best friend’. Furthermore, while Simon is portrayed in terms close to the oldest gay stereotype the film is at pains to see him as something of a hero whose role in looking out for Lily is crucial. That means that in contrast to so many films featuring gay men or lesbians Who We Love tells a story that could have equal appeal to those in either category.
In 1993 the British writer Jonathan Harvey had a stage hit with Beautiful Thing which three years later became an extremely popular film. That work was set in South London and was male-orientated but nevertheless its portrayal of gay teenage characters in many ways shares elements found in Who We Love. But it may have been a work of its time and I for one found it overall an escapist work rather than a realistic one and therefore of limited impact. For many that tone did nothing to lessen its appeal and it could be that a majority will embrace Graham Cantwell’s film in exactly the same way although its mode quite lacks the sense of deep authenticity to be found in a film like 2024’s outstanding Unicorns. If that film sets the persuasive tone of gay drama today, Who We Love is more redolent of earlier approaches given the speeches in it that seem set up to make a point, the inclusion of an additional romantic sub-plot with a happy ending and other touches that suggest fiction among them an increasing reliance on melodramatic situations late on. Indeed, it is all too characteristic when a change of heart experienced by one of the characters is handled in a way that makes it feel too neat to convince.
It is these aspects of Who We Love that compel a critic to describe it as a film with weaknesses. But they matter less than one would expect because whoever deserves the credit – Harte, Quinn or Cantwell or perhaps all three – the film embodies to an unusual degree the sense that everybody involved was totally dedicated to expressing what is being said here. Regardless of any contrived elements, the film wisely refuses to be so escapist as to offer an all-out happy ending. Instead, it recognises the valid achievement of its focal character, Lily, who can declare at the close that she has found her tribe.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Clara Harte, Dean Quinn, Amy-Joyce Hastings, Venetia Bowe, Amy Hughes, Paul Ronan, Aisling O’Neill, Jimmy Smallhorne, Danielle Galligan, Alison McGirr, Geraldine McAlinden, Lynette O’Callaghan, Hallie Ridgeway, Daniel Mahon, Orla McGovern, Niamh McCormack, Charlie Maher.
Dir Graham Cantwell, Pro Edwina Forkin, Alan Fitzpatrick and Graham Cantwell, Screenplay Graham Cantwell and Katie McNeice, Ph Austin Ray and Weston Ray, Pro Des Michael Moynihan, Ed Graham Cantwell, Music Joseph Conlan, Costumes Maeve Paterson.
Treehouse Media/Amberley Film Investment-Peccadillo Pictures.
94 mins. Ireland. 2022. UK Rel: 6 January 2025. No Cert.
