It is a little shocking to see this movie in 2017. The desperate situation that the writer/director creates for her character as entertainment is so dark and frankly, cruel, that it offends me as someone who lived/lives with that desperation. Frankie is a typical street kid from Brooklyn in many ways. He and his crew don't have much to do, so they go to Coney Island and take prescription drugs to create mild entertainment. He's atypical in that he's capable of being pleasant and respectful, when necessary. He's also gay in a world designed for straight bros, and he lives out that part of his life on a hook-up chat website. This set-up is straight from a gay 1990's movie, when the AIDS epidemic was winding down and being gay was scary - queer films reflected that back then. Like those tragic movies of yesteryear, Frankie becomes more and more isolated by his choices and actions. He finds himself alienated from his friends, his family, his straight girlfriend, his potential boyfriends and himself. And then the movie ends. The writer/director is a straight woman whose artistic decisions amount to having a character put in a glass box that is slowly filling with water just to see what happens. It's cruel. I think the problem is that as gayness is more socially acceptable as a topic for film, straight people feel empowered to tell those stories but their conception of gayness is from the 1990's. "Brokeback Mountain", "Moonlight" and "Beach Rats" are all straight people's assessments of gay life, and man are they bleak.
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Bayamon_Hill24 November 2017
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suse-prinas15 November 2017This is another one of those gay themed movies that tries to show some deeply hidden emotions or something, but instead goes nowhere.
Let's start with what's good first... Most of the cinematography is pretty good - expect for overly shaky camera in few scenes. There is a lot of eye candy in terms of shirtless guys and more - can help in making the movie at least a bit more interesting. And the acting isn't totally bad. At least the actors don't feel stiff.
Sadly that is where good things end. There is little dialogue in the movie, though that is not always a bad thing. But in this movie it actually is. Because we don't really see any character development and no real story. We have a young guy that takes drugs, has sex with older men and spends time with his friends doing stupid things. That's almost the entire story. Backing characters have no names, no personality and really don't do anything. Main character... pretty much the same. No ambitions, no desires, no anger, nothing. He just is. Pretty much the whole thing can be seen in the trailer.
You will get the same story if you look at pictures of random strangers in a city near a beach. Though those will probably have more depth. Overall I can't really recommend this one. If you want teens coming to terms with life and their sexuality go watch something like Hidden Kisses or Boys and leave this one alone. -
denny3217 January 2018Most reviewers seem to give this film lots of stars, or nearly none. I'm going to break from the herd and give it 5 out of 10. I'm awarding 2 stars for Harris Dickinson's body, and 3 more for attempting to tell a story that hasn't been given its due. The film industry (both US and foreign) would have you believe that a gay man discovers his sexuality by meeting someone special and spending quality time with him, whether herding sheep on a mountain or playing volleyball at an Italian villa. In truth, even in this day and age the vast majority of gay men go through an often desperate and anguished journey of discovery and self-acceptance alone, with no one to lend a hand aside from the occasional hookup. It's a story that should be told. Sadly, this film does a pretty awful job of telling it.
It's hard to imagine at what point writer/director Eliza Hittman, a straight female, thought she understood the struggle of young gay men well enough to invest herself in making this film. Moreover, I can't figure out what audience it was intended for - the gay men who'd quickly spot its obvious flaws, or the straight people who'd have no interest in a story that revolves around gay sex with random strangers.
It's painful to sit and watch Frankie make one bad decision after the next for an entire film, and just as painful that he never really suffers as a result. The things he does to ingratiate himself to his worthless friends are maddening - he steals his dying father's pain medication so they can get high, steals his mother's earrings to buy them tickets to a party, sets up the film's lone arguably nice guy to be beaten and robbed, all with no negative personal consequences. Meanwhile, these three guys he's so eager to please seem to bring absolutely nothing to the table. It's a complete mystery why he wants to hang out with them at all. And an even bigger mystery why he'd risk exposing his secret life to these troglodytes just to supply them with weed.
The central premise of having Frankie meet men for hookups in an online video chat room specific to the Brooklyn area shows a laughable unfamiliarity with the way these things work. Video chat rooms are for guys to jerk off together on camera, not for guys to arrange meetups. If such localized video chat rooms ever existed they're long gone in this age of Grindr and similar cell phone apps, but I guess a laptop screen is more cinematic than a smartphone. The way Frankie's more seasoned hookup Jeremy reacts to his inexperience and self-repression also reveals a genuine ignorance of the way a gay man would handle that situation ("It's okay, I like a challenge" - seriously??).
It's perhaps most telling of all that every single male character in the film is sleazy, and almost all of the gay men are physically repulsive. Jeremy comes off in the best light, but he tries to lure Frankie with pot and admittedly uses the hookup site "a lot". The sole arguably positive gay role models are a couple Frankie spots holding hands on the subway - but the hands are all we see; the camera doesn't even show us their faces. Meanwhile, the three female characters (Frankie's mother, sister, and girlfriend) are all ostensibly good people with no significant flaws.
I don't know if this film was meant for a gay audience, but it definitely should not have been made by someone who doesn't know what it's like to be gay. -
Red_Identity13 November 2017Woah. I knew almost nothing going into this but it really affected me like few films this year. It was tough seeing such a repressed, confused character in such a dark state of mind, especially one that was going through such a similar experience to many others and I in the LGBTQ+ community. The lead, Harris Dickinsion, was so authentic and genuine, it made it that much more difficult to watch him go through what he does here. The film doesn't deliver anything in terms of a satisfying conclusion or tidy little arc. Instead, it becomes harder to watch the more it goes. I don't know, I just found this to be quite powerful.
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paul-allaer15 September 2017"Beach Rats" (2017 release; 95 min.) brings the story of Frankie, a Brooklyn teenager. As the movie opens, Frankie is on the Brooklyn Boys dating website, where he, tempted but uncertain, looks at the profiles of older guys. We get to know him better as he is hanging out with his buddies on a boardwalk. While at a nearby amusement park, he gets to know a beautiful girl, Simone, and they eventually hook up. In a parallel story, we also get to know Frankie's family: his younger sister, his worrying mom, and his ailing dad, bedridden with cancer. At this point we're not even 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the second movie from writer-director Eliza Hitmann, who a few years ago brought us the equally sexually charged "It Felt Like Love". Here, Hittman portrays the confusion and curiosity and social pressure facing a young guy who is dealing with a heavy family situation, while at the same time also trying to fine his place, or should I say himself. BEWARE: there are a number of pretty graphic scenes in the movie so if that bothers you, please do yourself a favor and check out another movie. I must admit that, as a straight guy myself, I was a bit uncomfortable at times with some of the scenes in this movie. That said, this is a great "little" move that shows a slice of life that feels very real. There are some outstanding performance, none more so that Harris Dickinson as the vulnerable/curious Frankie, and Madeline Weinstein as Simone. Surely we have not seen the last of them. When Frankie and Simone first meet on the boardwalk, they watch the fireworks, which Frankie terms boring and not romantic at all. Responds Simone: "What is your idea of romance?", and that goes to the core of the movie, as Hittman navigates the themes of sexuality, love, longing and belonging.
"Beach Rats" premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival to immediate critical acclaim. The movie finally opened this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay but not great (about 10 people). I can't say that surprised me, given the nature of the film. Yet with positive word-of-mouth this movie surely will get, maybe the movie will find a larger audience, if not in the theater, then later on VOD or DVD/Blu-ray. -
proud_luddite13 January 2018Frankie (Harris Dickinson) is in his late teens and lives at his Brooklyn home with his family. He also lives a double life: he hangs out and does drugs with three macho friends while also living a closeted life of arranging sexual encounters with men (mostly middle-aged) on the Internet.
While "Beach Rats" has a standard tone in its coming-of-age storyline, it can be given credit to going where most films dare not go: its man-to-man encounters are upfront. While this is courageous and rare, the movie suffers like many other recent ones including "Good Time" above: the main character is unlikeable.
Franikie's gradual descent into drug dependence might have elicited sympathy but he lacks soul and character whether he's drugging with his friends, having secretive sex with men, trying to go "straight" with a young woman close to his age, or in the few encounters he has with his family.
Some characters in smaller roles do show glimpses of depth but these moments are too few and far between. Director/writer Eliza Hittman uses a cool, distant approach to the characters but as the characters themselves are also cool and distant, there is an empty feeling by the end. - dbamateurcritic -
A picture of a sadness life of a boy that has gay tendencies while is surrounded by a toxic masculinity context. It just made realize how many guys must had experienced horrible relations with other mans because they don't accept themselves. The movie don't pretend to have a happy ending and it was a good way to represent the internal conflict of self acceptance that for a lot of mens ends never happening. May be a good example of what not to do for some boys out there.
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slabihoud24 October 2017Admitted, I did not applaud when the film was over at the Viennale screening two days ago. It is difficult for me to carry a torch for a character who seems so indifferent about himself, so hopeless and sometimes cruel. One can argue that it is a piece of life and people like him exist. They do, no question about that. But is it worth watching a guy 90+ minutes not getting his act together? This is up to everyone's own judgment.
The problem with the main character Frankie is, he is so boring! The film doesn't give you anything sympathetic or at least interesting about him. The fact that he is gay might have been interesting enough 20 years ago but not anymore. A lot of the discussion in reviews rotates around his search for sexual identity. I wonder if anyone noticed that his life would not be much easier or clearer if he would be straight like his buddies. They don't share his secret longings but they hang out together most of the time and do the same things. Beside his meeting elder men for sex, his drug consume and criminal acts, his indifference toward his family would be the same.
Throughout the film we are constantly looking at close-up and medium shots of naked male skin, the gang is shown either with slim undershirts or shirtless. If these would be scenes with women we would call this an exploitation movie.
But yes, his sexual uncertainty is of importance to the story when it comes to women. When a girl tries to date him he reluctantly acts up to what he thinks is expected of him, but soon fails on all fronts. The best scene of the film is when his girlfriend pulls the brake and tells him off. Asked why, she explains to him, he is a ruin, too much would be necessary to make him over and she would only want to see him again after he has been renovated.
Despite the fact that he is in almost every scene we learn very little about him. We don't learn anything about his buddies. We see glimpses of his family and I wondered how his mother took so long to realize that her son is in trouble.
There are interesting moments in the film but overall not enough development to care much. -
evanston_dad28 February 2018I went to IMDb to see what other people had said about this film, and the very first review I saw had the title of "Boring."
"Beach Rats" is quiet and thoughtful, and it demands a certain amount of patience, but it breaks my heart that someone would dismiss it as boring. It follows a lost youth navigating the no man's land between teenager and adult as he tries to figure out how to be the person he wants to be -- whoever that is -- in an environment that tells him who he should be. He hangs out with a bunch of losers who speak in a kind of dumb bro language and couldn't string together an articulate thought between the three of them while wandering aimlessly around Coney Island and its environs looking to score easy drugs. Meanwhile, he carries on a secret life of gay encounters with older men while at the same time trying to force himself to enjoy a relationship with a young woman who's too mature for him.
Is he gay? Probably. Does he specifically seek out older men as father figures because his own dad just recently died of lingering cancer? Maybe. But the point is that he doesn't have the tools required to process any of the things he's feeling because he lives in a stunted place surrounded by stunted people, and it's easier to escape into feeling good the bad way than to put work into feeling better the hard way.
More than anything "Beach Rats" is about how hard it is for men to explore their own feelings in a culture that has rigidly defined what it means to be masculine.
Grade: A -
uncsbuddy9116 April 2020I appreciate that this movie doesn't have a plot, an endpoint. We're not in a journey with him, we're being given a glance into a closeted masculine city teenager's life. There's no resolution to the movie because there isn't to be had any this point in his life. If you've never experienced a non-glamorized non-tourist look into city life for a teenager, or you've never been in the closet, it'll be hard to appreciate this movie.
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aryugaetu30 November 2017Don't worry, no spoiler here:
I didn't understand the ending. I understood the confusion and struggles; been there. Whatever it was, it must be hidden under some artsy symbolism.
Should I have picked up on fleeting Sherlock-like clues? There were many things they could have used, I waited for them to tie things together, but it just stopped; just hung there like a gay man's rubber parts during str8 sex
The plot was too drawn out and could have easily been wrapped in a bow. It was all set for the shy, non-conforming, 3rd friend to fill the gap, meeting at the carnival. Watching fireworks together would have been too cheesy, but hearing them in the background as they played with the 2 (basket)balls and scoring would have been subtle symbolism. Such an ending would have given me happy tears (rare in gay centric movies these days). Was I suppose to notice if the guy's car is still in the lot to see if he made it out?
Not a spoiler because none of this happened, thus the low rating; nothing happened. It got 3 stars because we need more gay movies, but this is just 1 step above "all gays die in the end" by proving "all gays have unhappy, confusing, drug and alcohol abusing lives". That's just the plot, no spoiler ending...because there is none I could see.
I'm gay (since the days it was labeled a TV freak show disease, all gays in movies were either killed or were a cheap comic relief character as "sissies"), I didn't get the ending in Beach Rats. Then again, I didn't like the ending of "Brokeback Mountain": Gay assault, brief gay sex that looks more like rape, homophobia and closets are OK if a gay man is allowed to eventually cry for a minute.
Brokeback Mountain: Crappy middle, OK ending. Beach Rats: OK middle, bad ending. -
This is not your usual feel-good gay-themed movie, where after various hardships the gay main character wins his love-interest and/or the acceptance of his family and friends. No happy ending here. Main character Frankie is a young guy who secretly lives out his gay tendencies, but at the same time cannot cope with this and vehemently denies to himself that he could actually be homosexual. At home (a mother and a younger teenage sister, there seems to be no father) and among his group of macho friends he acts like the conventional straight streetwise guy, strolling with his mates along the streets and the beach (hence the Beach Rats) or sullenly hanging out with them, blowing, drinking and cracking macho jokes. But in the privacy of his room he cruises the internet, looks at gay porn and makes gay sex-dates.
This movie pictures poignantly the frustration and the depression, almost schizophrenia, that results from this ambiguity, where Frankie persistently refuses to see the obvious signs that point out his true sexual identity and the potential help that's offered him (like from his mom who gradually begins to suspect what the problem is but doesn't dare to interfere). It's touching to see how witnessing his little sister hanging out with her boyfriend angers him, because she evidently can have what he so desperately wants: a satisfying and legit love-life. When in an ill-fated attempt to mix his straight and his gay life he tells his friends that he meets gay guys to obtain their weed, things take a violent turn and he has to face the consequences of his own ambiguous behavior, all the more realizing that he can't have both worlds, but still unable to choose or even admitting that there could be a choice. In the closing scene this is illustrated by the fireworks that blast above Coney Island while Frankie wanders disconsolately along the boardwalks; early in the movie he himself pointed out that there's nothing romantic or special about these fireworks, since they are repeated week after week. So we are to understand that Frankie feels like nothing will change in his life.
This may be a depressing movie, but it is sincerely and sensitively made, without falling into the trap of melodrama. Harry Dickinson does an excellent and very convincing job as Frankie, with few words but all the more with his expressions and attitude. Maybe it's too dark for everyones taste, but in my opinion it gives a very realistic account of what goes on in the head of a type of gay being-in-the-closet that doen't get that much attention: not a gay man who knows his true sexual identity but stays in the closet out of fear of the reactions of his surroundings, but one that even to himself denies being gay in spite of all the contrary signs, and has to cope with the schizophrenia of that. I know all about it, I've been there. It's a pity that the script didn't provide a happier conclusion, but with me it took until my 40'th birthday, so there's still hope for Frankie. -
Jithindurden12 November 2017Harris Dickinson gives an amazing performance as the sexually confused aimless teenager who also faces family tragedy and drug problems. The whole film works well telling the story from his perspective. But the film lacks the ambition to expand the themes touched by it. It should've been daring in exposing the problems faced by the protagonist and the results of his actions. While what's been shown catches the state of mind of the protagonist perfectly, it feels like the film ends without telling everything it could and should have.
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sunheadbowed4 December 2017A film about homosexuality made for heterosexuals, 'Beach Rats' neatly fits the tired and restrictive 'LGBT' label by conforming to many of its trademarks, such as self-loathing and confused gay men that simply wish to belong, gays being betrayed by other gays, gays getting beat up, macho blokes, predictable plots and clichéd characters, nudity, homoerotic soft-porn visuals and drug taking.
The underlining psycho-sexual Freudian craving for a father figure (the six pack underwear model guy's dad dies of cancer) is clunky and too obvious, and the cruising and outdoor sex will only shock heterosexual people who are still living in 1995, everyone else will be bored.
The story's conclusion is both preposterous (a closeted gay male tells his aggressive, homophobic friends about a gay cruising site he uses that they can score weed on) and predictable (the effeminate, helpless gay male they trick into meeting them is beaten by the group).
Gay/queer people are some of the bravest you will ever meet, but from viewing a film like 'Beach Rats', you'd never be aware of this. The idea with these intellectually lazy films is to present the world as a predatory, scary place for gay people; sometimes that is very true, and sometimes it is not. I've never been attacked for being gay, for example, yet every 'LGBT' film features a gay bashing. Is this the only way to tackle homophobia -- to show fictional gay bashings? To show repressed, miserable young people hurting other repressed, miserable young people? Does it change the world? Aren't we tired of seeing gay men get beaten up yet?
In the 1970s you had a wide range of incredibly varied queer film makers all over the world making thrilling films, from Fassbinder's nihilistic, confrontational 'f--k you's, to John Waters' palpable joy in seeking to offend everyone on the planet, to Pasolini's fierce socialist attacks on the hypocrites of the world, to Kenneth Anger's esoteric and homoerotic Thelema-inspired creations -- these are films that are still vibrant and powerful to this very day, forty years later, and that is because they were works of complete originality and power, there is no self-loathing to be found in any of it.
No one will be talking about this dated, gay-bashing soft porn in even five years' time. -
millarjm-302-8541010 March 2019I'm not a critique or very affluent in English, but I found this movie to be extremely enjoyable. Harris Dickinson gives a brave and enduring performance as the main character.
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varun-discovery10 February 2018The movie quite accurately depicts what closeted boys do and go through.. Acceptability in society is kept above self and for good. Fear of rejection by friends is quite what the character depicts and chooses not to accept himself as he is. Even when in company of a gay man, fears what might happen if he accepts the truth.
The ending however is a bit abrupt. Great concept but not so good execution.. -
arywicaksana18 March 2018The third act could be more revealing, the actors are not quite believable, and Jackie's struggle could be a lot more highlighted. But I love how the story is told in subtle and not in spoon-feeding ways.
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laduqesa15 August 2021The film was as aimless as the lives of the spivs whose lives it followed. Their characters and lives didn't develop and nor did the film. It's quite appropriate, in fact.
As a story of urban youth, some of them second generation Russian immigrants with all the disadvantages that this might imply, the narrative was compelling. They have no rhyme or reason in their lives, no goals apart from getting laid or high.
In this group, Frankie walks a tightrope. He's less amoral than his peers, secretly a gay bottom, a bit weak and easily led. He runs with the crowd and as an attractive lad has an easy time pulling girls to act as a cover for his real desires.
There are some hints that one of his mates might be subject to the same proclivities - there is one shot of him seemingly ogling guys in shorts on the beach and he refuses to participate in the meeting at the beach at the end. But it would be too much of a risk for either to hook up or express any sort of affinity with each other. What if either had got it wrong?
We don't see an out for any of the group. The film ends as it begins with the fireworks at Coney Island. Nothing has been resolved, there are no solutions. The guys will have different futures if only because of their sexualities and personalities but it's not going to happen any time soon. It's left to us to imagine what will occur. -
em8597618 September 2017First off, by tough to watch, I mean that in a good way. The almost painful, questioning and awkward teenage years of a man learning, or trying to learn his sexuality and family fit with turmoil going on all around him could not be captured better. His "not (his) friends" don't seem to make anything easier for him, and his love interest isn't much better.
The one big difference in this film which in my opinion doesn't make it bad, just makes it unique to what is to be expected from many coming of age/life films around is that a majority of the movie is portrayed not by dialog, but by character demeanor, and actions. It is not a feel good movie, and it is not a re-assuring style film. It is as it tries to be a movie showing the hardship of being a teenage male, unsure about his sexuality or life in fractured times.
I would highly recommend this film if that sounds like your cup of tea, but if you like the more light hearted, or 'scripted' style of teenage life this may not be for you.
**Fair warning this film does have a fair bit of nudity, and drug use among others** -
robert-8592325 April 2019It's supposedly about a young man coming to terms with his sexuality and wrestling with who he should be hanging out with. I felt that rather than exploring these themes it meanders around them.
The mood is kept dark and edgy - hand held camera work is very much the go here. The colouring is also fairly monochrome. Generally the cinematography was fine.
Acting was passable - no real stand outs - the lead was OK but I don't think the director stretched him.
Passable. -
'Beach Rats' has received positive reviews.Is it worthy of them? Eliza Hit-man's 'Beach Rats' protagonist Frankie has nothing going for him. In a way, he's 'Saturday Night Fever's' Tony Manero of the 21 century. Like Tony he lives with his family, but unlike him, he doesn't work; he's listless. Unlike Tony who has no future other than working in a local paint shop,but lives for the weekends dancing; on the other hand, Frankie is a sixes and sevens, trolling the web for trysts with older men for sex. Unlike Tony who is sure of his sexuality (he adjusts his junk before a mirror before going off to a discotheque). Frankie fears his homosexuality. (Older men don't live in Frankie's world, so it is a 'condom' to protect his doubts and secrets._ Hit-man has created a closed world of the white working class in Gravesend or Sheepshead in the wake of 9/ll and the 2008 world recession. It is a bleak world,a world that for Frankie and his friends with boundaries that end in Coney Island or the bushes of the Belt Parkway where Frankie has sex. A closed in world with no exit: Frankie hangs with three friends, who, like him, are more teenagers than adults. We know little about them, other than Frankie supplies them with marijuana and his dying father's pain killers to dull the pain cancer causes. Frankie is in his own world;he lives in the basement with his computer he uses to find men... They play handball, a sport that once was an important sport in Brooklyn, but no more. And they congregate in a smoke shop, and live for the weekend at Coney Island, seeing the same fireworks week after week, ogling girls, going on rides and getting stoned. Frankie hooks up with Simone a salesgirl with no future too.She chooses Frankie because he's sexy and more pretty than handsome. Frankie's a cynic of sorts; he asks here if she had sex with another girl; she had which she characterizes as 'hot'; he then asks her what about two men who have sex; her reply is a curt..they're gay. Even sex with her remains a last resort, as his sense of self walks on the edge' Frankie is becomes more an outsider as he retreats into self doubt and afraid to come to terms with who he is. Frankie and his friends will stoop to pickpocket on the boardwalk to pay for a weekend of fun, drugs and feel 'strong' and manly, not aimless and lost. Ultimately Frankie lets his friends in his secret as a way to get 'weed'. The victim is beaten and left in the Atlantic to fend for himself. And he seeks respite on the boardwalk of Coney Island, alone and no more sure of who he is... As a sociological statement, 'Beach Rat' is worth seeing. As a film, it has the feel of a graduate school exercise. Coney Island is wonderfully photographed, but Brooklyn remains elusive as does Frankie.
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barkingechoacrosswaves29 August 2017"Beach Rats" is an extremely potent movie. The plot turns around the anguished, conflicted sexuality of the central character, a teenager named Frankie. Frankie enjoys having sketchy sex with older men. Unhappy with his own tastes, he tries to refocus his libido on more conventional outlets. Unfortunately, though, Frankie's efforts to take an interest in women are an utter failure, only serving to confirm, again and again, his lust for men and his appetite for anonymous gay encounters along roadsides, on beaches and in motels.
Unable to cope with the dissonance between what he craves and what he wishes he craved instead, Frankie relies heavily on drugs to numb the pain and kill time. He spends his days and nights with a small pack of pathetic, frustrated thugs who resort to petty crime to buy drugs and booze.
Frankie's downward spiral is portrayed with great finesse by Harris Dickinson. Eliza Hittman's writing and direction are highly effective, and the photography and editing are also first rate. All of the subsidiary roles are well cast and played with uncanny naturalness and precision. I did not detect a single false note in any of the acting in this film.
Fundamentally, this is a movie about the inability of people to accept the mountain of ambiguity and filth they have to climb in order to become themselves. Beyond conformity and rebellion, what is a human being? "Beach Rats" proposes no answers to the profound questions raised by the shabby ruins it excavates. -
justahunch-705497 June 2022Sensational film debut by Harris Dickinson who has since quickly escalated up the ladder of more mainstream films including one that has just won the Grand Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. That success is no surprise as his performance here is as honest and authentic as they come from someone with as little experience as he had before this. His touching and vulnerable performance along with his character gets a little lost as this film nears its ending. A story of a youth struggling with all sorts of things, but primarily his sexuality, is very interesting until it sort of loses its way with an odd and not very believable twist of him introducing his straight beach bum buds to a gay man for weed. It may be my limitation, but the very final scenes are meaningless to me and I wish that were not the case as I really liked it a lot up until then. Nevertheless, I found the majority of it honest and moving. I didn't know when watching this that Dickinson was British, but you would never know it. I seem to say that a lot. I am endlessly surprised and impressed by British actors at the beginning of their careers or at the end. Their training for performing seems unparalleled.
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reconditered8 February 2018This was the most pretentious movie that I have ever seen in my entire life! The protagonist is a young man who has no job, no education that we know of, is fighting against his sexual desires to be with other men, and has a group of friends that seemingly only like him due to his drug supply. As he has sexual experiences with other men, the audience suspects that he may embrace a gay sexual identity. However, he states that he doesn't identify himself as gay, and when he is with his friends, he portrays the gay video chat site as a way that he scores weed. After he and his thug friends rob Jeremy on the beach, I was hoping that they'd all end up in prison, or at the very least, the mother would throw Frankie out on the street. Throughout the film, we didn't learn anything about Frankie, his friends, his ill father, his mother, or his sister. This film starts out like Frankie is going to go on a journey to learn about himself, yet in the end, his life is just like the fireworks; it's the same thing all the time. After watching this film, I almost feel like the filmmakers were using Frankie's ambiguous sexuality as a mere ploy to garner attention and make their film appear to be much deeper and cutting edge than it actually is. All in all, I find it incredibly insulting and offensive to the entire LGBTQ community that this drivel won 7 awards!
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euroGary9 October 2017There is nothing original about 'Beach Rats': its central character is a disaffected Brooklyn youth with few obvious prospects. He takes drugs with his dead-beat friends and hooks up with men he meets on the internet. His father is seriously ill and he has a younger sister he feels he has to protect. The same basic scenario has appeared - perhaps with one or two differences - in any number of American films.
But that does not mean this is not worth watching. In the leading role, Briton Harris Dickinson - disguising his natural accent well - gives a subtle performance, making Frankie sort-of likable but not hiding his flaws. Kate Hodge, playing his mother, convinces in her quiet concern for her son (and has one of the most emotional scenes in the film when she lays on the bed next to her dying husband). Madeline Weinstein, as Frankie's girlfriend, is feisty and attractive.
I would have preferred director Eliza Hittman to have used fewer grainy shots; they add nothing except pretension. The number of extreme close-ups she uses is also tiresome. But she has created a watchable film which is probably destined to become a homosexual cinema standard for the next several years - albeit largely due, I imagine, to Dickinson's nude scenes.