Australian filmmaker Craig Boreham expanded this feature from his dark and disturbing award-winning 2009 short film Drowning, with the same leading actor, Miles Szanto (of Bruno & Earlene fame). This is a movie that’s both provocative and thoughtful, telling an intensely personal story that takes some surprising twists and turns. It gets somewhat grim as it goes along, but has an undercurrent of hope.
The story is set in suburban Sydney, where 17-year-old Mik (Szanto) is planning to escape to a new life with his best pal Dan (Daniel Webber). Both are tired of the limits of their economically challenged families. But before they can get away, Mik’s life is changed by the accidental death of his big brother. Now stuck working in the family shop with his angry dad (Lech Mackiewicz) and trying to calm his grieving mother (Anni Finsterer), Mik is also annoyed that Daniel is getting closer to local rich girl Phaedra (Charlotte Best), inviting her along on their surfing trips. Yes, the problem is that Mik is secretly in love with Dan.
Where this story goes isn’t easy to predict, as writer-director Boreham lets things get very, very bleak for these characters. Thankfully, the film maintains an introspective point of view, as we see everything through Mik’s eyes. So it’s emotional to watch the world close in around this young guy who so badly needs to come to terms with his own sexuality. And also to talk to someone about it.
Szanto is excellent in the role (he won Best Actor at the Iris Prize Festival in Cardiff earlier this month), a sexy young guy with big feelings for everyone around him. Mik’s journey is deeply compelling, from his angry outbursts at school and home to his experimentation cruising for sex or using drugs. And Webber brings a natural honesty to Dan that makes his climactic actions eerily understandable. Both of these young men are likeable and cruel, and their complexity leaves us with a lot to think about.
Sometimes where this plot goes feels rather desolate, especially as Mik wallows in his destructive self-loathing. But while some plot points feel a little contrived, and some of the side characters get fairly melodramatic, the central journey is compelling and involving. In the end, this is a powerful exploration of the dangers of repression, and thankfully Boreham finds reasons to be hopeful along the way.
****
Teenage Kicks is available on DVD/VOD via Bounty Films.
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