BEACH RATS

Director Eliza Hittman, tackles with unbiased honesty, the grey befuddled, muddled area between boyhood and manhood; painful indecisiveness of one’s sexuality, conforming or railing against society’s code of acceptance; nineteen-year-old “Frankie” (British actor Harris Dickinson, overwhelms in this poignant, heartbreaking role,  coming to terms with burgeoning homosexuality, a looming frightening future; beyond handsome, he is a magnet for women and men; trolling the internet, looking for older, willing participants, he succumbs, while struggling to maintain a “straight” façade; “Simone” (sensuous Madeline Weinstein) senses the fissures in his psyche; their scenes together are redolent with torment, angst and the bleakest frustration.

Set in Brooklyn, young jobless, addicted teenagers gravitate to the beach for solace, entertainment, never recognizing water’s unbiased selection when it comes to harm or healing; there is a sad, comforting purity in watching the plummeting, redundant waves.

Tortured, fractured Frankie, haunts long after the screen darkens and life intrudes.

THREE STARS!!!

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