Watch-list: Lonesome – an unexpected connection on the sexed-up streets of Sydney.

The latest from filmmaker Craig Boreham is Lonesome.

Lonesome gives us the story of Casey (Josh Lavery). Without much of a plan, Casey has arrived in Sydney – keen to leave his rural hometown far behind him. A random hook-up brings Casey into contact with Tib (Daniel Gabriel) – a resilient but scarred guy, who seems to use sex to mask his feelings. There’s chemistry between these two young guys – sexual but also emotional, as they try to navigate their personal struggles and the emotional rollercoaster of their burgeoning relationship.

“Lonesome is ultimately a journey of connection between two souls who are both leaves blowing in the wind…” explains Craig Boreham. “Casey is lost after a country town scandal tore his world apart. Tib, rejected by his broken family, tumbles through the world without direction and any kind of support network. His only connections are formed through meaningless encounters with random men he finds on hook-up apps. When their worlds collide, both men find something they have been missing but neither of them knows quite how to negotiate it.”

“When I started writing Lonesome, I was thinking about where our queer community is right now in Australia…” says Boreham. “Our connections via social media are constant but the physical community spaces have begun to disappear and our big cities can be trickier places to navigate when you are searching for your people.”

“I wanted the film to be honest about the part sex plays in this navigation and the way gay men in particular use it. Whether it is in the pursuit of intimate connection or to purely to pass the time or to express rage or as a transaction, sex is a big part of our day to day but still so often hidden in our screen stories.”

Lonesome is distributed by Peccadillo Pictures

Written By
More from Gareth Johnson

Culture Diary: Spring festivals in Brussels

As well as bringing some much-needed sunshine, the arrival of Spring also...
Read More