Departures (2026)

Told by way of an one-sided and fairly heart-rending retrospective, this tells us the story about two gents "Benji" (Lloyd Eyre-Morgan) and "Jake" (David Tag) who have their flight cancelled and so start chatting at the airport. The former is a gay lad without two pennies to rub together and who lives with his mum. The latter is a successful, straight, personal trainer to the footballing community of England's North West. Quite swiftly they go from chatting to drinking to sharing holes in each other's lives. The only conditions are that they only hook up in Amsterdam and, of course, there are never to be any strings. "Jake" is quite happy to pay their way and for a while this arrangement seems to be working, but before long the needs of one starts to outweigh those of the other; and when lies and deceit begin to further complicate their situation it becomes unbearable. Can there be any future for them? I suppose my problem with this was the implausibility of the underlying premiss. The concept that people could continue to meet, regularly, and expect that bond never to deepen didn't really work for me. What did, to greater extent, though, was the development of the power dynamic between the two men. Initially, "Benji" clearly considers that he is punching above his weight somewhat, and to be honest his friend doesn't do much to disavow him of that perception. As their friendship deepens, though, we begin to observe a subtle shift in the way they engage with each other and with some entertainingly pithy dialogue and an Eyre-Morgan who looks like he is fully invested in his character, the film comes alive more for quite a cheeky purple patch. Sadly, we are never far from the melodrama and as we progress through towards the conclusion it takes over a little predictably, even pitiably, before perhaps offering both men (and us) a glimmer of hope that the sun will come up. There is something quite real about much of this, and that is down to some insightful language and to the on-form Eyre-Morgan, and though it isn't a great movie, it's another solid example of gay cinema becoming less about being gay and more about being a tale worth telling that just happens to be about two blokes.

The hopes most of us have for romantic comedy-dramas is that everything will ultimately work out in the end. But, in real life, relationships don’t always turn out that way. So when filmmakers try to fuse those two divergent scenarios, the results can be dismaying if not handled properly. However, when approached with a skillful touch, such stories can be surprisingly entertaining, even enlightening. So it is with this LGBTQ offering about a dysfunctional romance from directors Neil Ely and Lloyd Eyre-Morgan, who also wrote the script and stars in the movie. Told in an extended flashback that begins at the story’s end, the film follows the 18-month “relationship” (a term I use loosely) between Benji (Eyre-Morgan) and Jake (David Tag). They cruise one another in an airport bar before they both depart on a trip from England to Amsterdam. Benji, a sheepish middle-aged single who has a long history of bad luck in love (as illustrated in several flashbacks within the flashback), takes quite a shine to the chiseled, masculine Jake, and he’s quite surprised to find this Adonis return the attention. But, as Benji soon finds out, Jake is also a major tease, and he can’t tell if Jake is as interested in him as he might seem. However, no sooner is Benji ready to write off this prospect when he unexpectedly pounces, leading to some of the hottest sex he’s ever had. This encounter, in turn, leads to a series of weekend trips to the Netherlands, but the duo never seems to get past the casual level where they began, much to Benji’s disappointment. And, after a year of such meetings, things never progress to anything more serious. When Benji confronts Jake about this, he explains that he never intended for anything more than just a little fun to come out of this, especially when he makes clear that he’s actually more into women than men, behavior that Benji characterizes as bisexual (though “DL” (or “down low”) would probably be more accurate). This is where matters begin to sour as Jake tries to have his cake and eat it, too, while Benji struggles to figure out his next move. But can he? Indeed, can he let go of his obsession with someone who won’t reciprocate? In many respects, one might see this story as a downer, and a good case could be made for that argument. But, given the film’s deftly comic handling of the material, the story comes off as quite humorous and even charming. It skillfully combines the weight, oppressiveness and toxic qualities sometimes present in gay male partnerships, as depicted in movies like “Pillion” (2025), and the delightful sensibilities of off-beat romcoms like “(500) Days of Summer” (2009). These qualities are further enhanced through the use of clever animation, insightful voice-over narrations by the protagonist and even a music video sequence. Be forewarned, however, that this release is not all sweetness and light: It’s explicit in both its verbal descriptions and visual depictions of sexuality, and it features more than a little foul language and elements of envelope-pushing physical abuse, so sensitive viewers take heed. But, for all of the film’s cautionary qualities, there are also life lessons to be learned from what transpires, and they help to offset those troubling aspects. From this, one might contend that “Departures” is not for everyone (especially those outside the gay male community), but, for those who come from this part of LGBTQ society, this release may strike more than a few familiar chords, doing so in ways that are poignant, cringey and amusing all at the same time – just like gay male relationships themselves.