Writer-director Goran Stolevski’s new film, Of an Age, doesn’t take long to tell you what kind of movie it will be. When Ebony (Hattie Hook) wakes up stranded on a beach after a night of debauchery, she turns to ballroom partner, Kol (Elias Anton), to retrieve her before their dance finals in a few hours. She also tells him enlist her older brother, Adam (Thom Green). Though Adam and Kol have never met, their intimacy quickly blossoms as they make the long drive to pick up Ebony.
Viewers with a good ear for film scores/soundtracks will realize long before Adam explains it that the tape he’s playing is from Wong Kar-wai’s 1997 film, Happy Together. That film is undoubtedly one of the great cinematic queer romances and it’s bold of Stolevski to court comparisons between it and his own film. And yet, Of an Age is so well-acted and deeply felt that it has a very good chance of some day entering the same echelon as Happy Together.
Though Of an Age is a little hectic at the beginning as Kol races to gather everything he and Ebony will need for the dance competition, it becomes incredibly intimate once it settles down. Structured as if it were a combination of the first two films in Richard Linklater’s Before series, it starts in 1999 then jumps forward to 2010 for its last act. In its first and longest section, Kol is just about to turn 19 and is painfully closeted. There’s an anxiety to Anton’s performance, as if Kol is so terrified of admitting who he is that he could collapse in on himself at the slightest provocation. When he realizes he and Ebony will never make it to the finals on time, he vomits. When he attends a house party later in the film, he’s so emotionally closed off that he can’t engage with his peers and instead ends up alone and high in the corner. Kol hasn’t learned to move openly through the world yet—Adam, however, has.
Where Kol is nervy and confused, Adam is steady and confident and they complement each other beautifully. Though their long, winding conversation could easily become boring, Stolevski’s dialogue and the actors’ playful rapport keep us engaged. When they talk about books or Adam teases Kol about his dance costume, you can feel the growing affection and it’s easy to understand why Kol is instantly drawn to Adam.
That said, it’s equally easy to understand why Adam flirts with Kol. Perhaps because of his own closeted teenage years, Adam can sense what Kol is so desperate to deny and there’s a nurturing quality to Green’s performance. Certainly, there’s heat and interest in the way Adam gazes at Kol, but there’s also recognition and there’s real beauty in the way Adam can appreciate the sensitivity and intelligence that Kol hides from the world. It results in a powerful chemistry and the audience can’t help but root for them.
Unfortunately, Kol and Adam’s whirlwind 24 hours together must end. Adam is set to leave for Buenos Aires the next day to start a doctorate program and Kol is still trying to figure out what to do post-graduation. So, it’s utterly tragic at the end of that day when Kol holds back tears as he asks how long getting a doctorate takes, but it’s just as tragic when we jump to 2010, as Kol and Adam reunite to attend Ebony’s wedding.
From the moment they run into each other at the airport, there’s possibility in the air. Adam is as handsome and charming as ever, but it’s Kol who’s utterly changed. Now with facial hair and an earring, Anton projects an incredible confidence, showing just how much coming out has allowed Kol to become fully-realized.
It’s difficult to talk about that last act without spoiling the powerful emotions Stolevski delivers, but it’s frankly crushing. Whether it’s a glance Ebony and Kol share across the room as the reception winds down or the first breathless moments of Kol and Adam’s reunion, every beat is a gut punch. And while it will take some time before we know if Of an Age will be regarded as one of cinema’s great queer romances, it’s certain that it’s this year’s first great romantic film.
