(2024, 83 min)
Country: Australia
Director: Gabriel Carrubba
Studio: Radioactive Pictures, TLA Releasing
Language: English
SYNOPSIS: In the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Leo leads a seemingly typical life. Amidst hanging out with friends, bickering with his Italian family at the dinner table, going to school and making out with his girlfriend Monique, Leo guards a secret he's afraid to confront - a hidden truth buried deep within.
As Leo grapples with his inner turmoil, he finds himself unexpectedly drawn to his best friend Boof and a quiet, introverted boy at school named Tom. These newfound feelings Leo to confront his true desires and come to terms with his identity. However, everything changes after a high school gathering when rumors about Leo's sexuality begin to circulate, shattering his once stable world. Faced with the fear of rejection from those closest to him, Leo must navigate the uncertain waters of acceptance and love.
REVIEW:
This uncompromising foray into internalized homophobia and the corrosive effects of bullying, set in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, also charts a course across well-trod territory, but it manages to get under the skin all the same. A time period is not stated, but the online chat rooms it depicts suggest the late 1990s. Conversations with horny strangers are a reprieve for Leo (Liam Mollica), a teen who's still trying to hold onto the delusion that he likes girls but pines away for Boof (Luke J. Morgan), his reprobate bestie.
Boof is a bad boy, which is likely a part of why Leo, the son of Italian immigrants, finds him appealing. Whereas Monique (Olivia Fildes) finds Leo's boy-next-door appeal irresistible. (This cannot end well, can it?) Things take a violent turn in “Sunflower” after a nasty rumor catches fire, but writer-director Gabriel Carrubba, here making his feature directing debut, is ready to tackle this bruising story, with all its dark corners, head on. The 27-year-old filmmaker mixes the gritty kitchen sink realism in his depiction of his working-class milieu with lush dream sequences, gorgeously lensed by cinematographer Martine Wolff, that feature the titular blooms.
In this unforgiving world, people can and do disappoint you, but they can also surprise you. Homophobia is so very ugly, Carrubba conveys with brusque immediacy but also with a wisdom beyond his years, but the most painful wounds are self-inflicted ones. Tough lessons, learned the hard way, but much like its title suggests, the outlook here is ultimately bright and clear, with some ominous storm clouds. The film's skillfully balanced tug of war between its ruthless and tender moments makes one grateful that it doesn't hold back, thankful that it pulls no punches.
--Review By Ruben Rosario, Film Critic, Miamiartzine (https://www.miamiartzine.com/)
