“The next step in the zeitgeist of LGBTQ+ equality: the right to divorce” – that’s how Our Son is being described by the filmmakers behind the 2023 drama starring Luke Evans and Billy Porter.
The movie – which will show at BFI’s Flare Festival this week ahead of digital release in the UK on 25 March – follows a couple (played by Evans and Porter) whose marriage breaks down after several years together, requiring them to decide what to do about the custody of their ten-year-old son.
Director Bill Oliver, whose previous work includes the science fiction drama Jonathan (also known as Duplicate), compares the movie to recent landmark LGBTQ+ films such as Moonlight, The Kids Are Alright and Call Me By Your Name.
Like these films, Our Son seeks to impart a deeper, authentic truth about the often difficult lives of queer folk, which Oliver feels all audiences will benefit from seeing on screen.
“I wanted to make a movie that reflects my experience and the experience of other queer people whose lives are still sorely underrepresented on screen”, says Oliver, who identifies as gay.
“But I also wanted to make a movie that moves and entertains a general audience who will empathise with its characters and recognise themselves in it.”
Worth noting is that the film is helmed by openly queer performers Evans and Porter, as well as starring Andrew Rannells and Isaac Cole Powell in supporting roles.
The story of a gay divorce is one that is rarely explored on screen, which Oliver feels makes sense: “Gay people don’t take loving for granted because for so long we weren’t allowed to be.
[But] even though Our Son depicts divorce, it is a love story... [it’s] ultimately about a family learning how to love and overcoming their divisions... which is a story that needs to be told now in these difficult times.”
Now, in an exclusive clip for HuffPost UK, we see Evan’s character Nicky meeting with his divorce lawyer Pam (played by Robin Weigert) for the first time, and discussing his options as a parent.
Our Son is on digital release from 25 March.