A decade has passed since award-winning novelist Helen Walsh turned her attention to filmmaking, and after a foray into television last year, she has returned to writing and directing for the big screen. Her latest piece is erotic drama On the Sea which unravels within a fishing village of the north coast of Wales. Mussel farmer Jack (Barry Ward) is content in his stable yet unfulfilling marriage to Maggie (Liz White) and hopes that their teenage son Tom (Henry Lawfull) will join him and younger brother Dyfan (Celyn Jones) in the family hand raking business. However, as troublesome Scottish deckhand Daniel (Lorne MacFadyen) arrives in the tight-knit community, Jack confronts long suppressed emotions and risks everything he has worked for as an unexpected romance develops.
Baltic greys and blues make up the harsh blustery landscape that serves as an apt backdrop for Walsh’s plot-simple yet thematically heavy narrative. Family tensions cause choppy waters in Jack’s domesticity as moody teen Tom displays some reluctance towards following in the footsteps of his father and uncle, who both appear to pride themselves on their manual labour; for Dyfan at least, the challenging physicality of their occupation is worn as a badge of masculinity that perhaps shields some insecurities. With newcomer Daniel, he is proud and unapologetic about his sexuality and faces discrimination from small-minded drinkers at the local pub. Jack, harbouring his own truth, is drawn to Daniel’s confidence and while the initial lust between them is fuelled by whisky at the end of a long day of hard graft, it develops into something more meaningful as they yearn for an escape from their wearying existence through each other’s love.
Lead actor Barry Ward has impressed of late in memorable supporting roles, both in indie thriller Restless and in hit series Bad Sisters. It’s great to see him at the forefront of this atmospheric character study. Passionate feelings crash upon Jack like uncontrollable waves against rocky shores in On the Sea, and his complex relationships are tenderly portrayed in Helen Walsh’s compelling sophomore feature.
On the Sea premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival on 16th August
Cinema Perspective 