Kindling (2023)

“Sid” (George Somner) has had a terminal diagnosis and in light of this news, assembles four of his lifelong friends so they can all see him off in style. He’s still perfectly mobile and so decides that he wants each of them to bring something that connects them and him to an almighty bonfire they will build so they can give love, friendship, family, setting and home all a baptism of fire. His plan is to ensure that this provides the ultimate memorial and it’s as they set about this task that we discover what really makes these lads tick and take a look at just why their bond is so strong. Obviously, tensions and emotions are running high not just with his pals, but his parents Geoff Bell and Tara Fitzgerald are also having to deal with a man, not a boy, who is determined not to just sit indoors and wait. Things become even more complicated when he meets “Lily” (Mia McKenna-Bruce). There’s an hint of romance but he decides to try to keep it secret from his friends and maybe his best pal “Diggs” (Wilson Mbimio) takes that hardest. In the end, though, the question of whether the group will emerge intact at their conflagration isn’t really in doubt. Indeed, jeopardy isn’t really the point here. It’s a poignant exposition of male behaviour that demonstrates that men can have solid and enduring relationships with each other. They can be just as possessive, jealous and irrational as so many chick-flicks have shown us over the years, and there’s something really quite honest about that, here. Somner delivers engagingly as does Mbimio and Bell as his troubled but stoic-minded dad and the story moves solidly along. There aren’t many contemporary movies where men say “I love you” and it not make me grimace. Here - well it worked.