Mates (2023)

"Connor" (James Wiles) likes to go running with his pal "Nathan" (Sam Law) in the morning and it's half way around the park that his pal suggests he comes hiking with him. He's never done that before but nervously agrees, not anticipating that they would be joined by his other friend "Mark" (Rafe Bird). This trio set off on their trek but you can tell "Connor" isn't quite fitting in with their slightly laddish behaviour. Indeed, when they go to chat with some girls in the pub he is left on his own - until he is joined by "Adam" (Jonathan Cobb). Now you don't need functioning gaydar to realise that this latter chap is keen on the anxious "Connor" and so now, like with so much else on this walk, "Connor" is having to deal with things outside of his comfort zone. What now ensues sets up a scenario but really struggles to inject any life into those proceedings. The banal dialogue - especially from "Nathan" with his repetitious "Are you OK?"; "Are you sure, mate?", and from the increasingly confrontational "Mark" doesn't do this many favours, and aside from one scene with the two others that might have led to the story making some sort of progress, the remainder of the film delivers a curiously sterile observation of what you might describe as a contrived "blokeishness". It could have been better, perhaps, had it been shorter, more condensed and more focussed on the issues of masculinity and identity that it tries to address but as it is, it's as meandering as the stream they play pooh sticks in and nobody really has any role they can sink their teeth into.