BFI Flare 2025 – Departures ★★★★

Released: TBC (BFI Flare 2025)

Director: Neil Ely/Lloyd Eyre-Morgan

Starring: Lloyd Eyre-Morgan, David Tag

‘They say the best way to move forward is to go back’. Many of us can relate to torturing ourselves, whilst we furiously replay in our minds a specific moment in time that left us wounded. There is a tendency to hit the self-destruct button, birthing a whole host of fresh problems that are underpinned by such heartache. The toxicity you attached to a person you loved transferring, as it seeps into your own consciousness, clouding your judgment whilst tarnishing your sense of worth.

Directed by duo Neil Ely and Lloyd Eyre-Morgan. ‘Departures’ emotional baggage bulges as much as the arms of its central fixation. Pulling double duty here, Eyre-Morgan’s Benji pops up on doorsteps encouraging bemused figures to ‘save the birds’, yet he’s very much the one in need of being ‘rescued’. Talking us through a perpetual cycle of hollow hook-ups and drunken antics, as his no-nonsense mother Janet (Lorraine Stanley) bemoans the lack of happiness found in her gay son. But how did he arrive here?

The blame may just lie with strapping closet case Jake played by David Tag, who Benji first encounters at an airport gate. Immediately drawn to his forceful personality, the latter is soon fantasy booking him to ‘take off’ in more ways than one, becoming familiar with the sights of Amsterdam as well as each other’s bodies. Rather like their Ryanair flight, is the expressed sentiment about to be just as cheap for Benji?

Imbued with an intoxicating energy. Equipped with a Mancunian potty mouth. ‘Departures’ marks an exciting feature-length arrival for directors Neil Ely and Lloyd Eyre-Morgan, who are clearly brimming with intent here to shake up a predominantly cutesy landscape for queer cinema. The film has an impressive ability to frequently draw out the funny from awkward scenarios, touching upon themes of body confidence as well as internalised homophobia, which will likely resonate in how displays of dry humour act as a defence mechanism.

No matter the allure of a chosen setting. It is also fearless in confronting the perils of desperately craving hook-ups or chasing a harmful ideal, especially when in a fragile headspace. Proving endlessly inventive, in challenging our perceptions of this unorthodox dynamic through effective use of split-screen as well as POV shots, enabling its respective characters’ brutal honesty to really cut deep.

Lloyd Eyre-Morgan draws you in from minute one with his emotionally naked performance, balanced out by the witty levity of his narration. As Benji, he delivers an authentic portrait of just how reckless and addictive we can become when wrapped up in an all-consuming love, which only thrives on playing on our deep-rooted insecurities. Meanwhile the sheer dominance of David Tag’s Jake makes for a compelling presence alongside Eyre-Morgan, whose quick shutdowns of any meaningful connection mask a wealth of uncertainty within himself.

Instilling an invigorating Northern grit into British queer cinema. ‘Departures’ fittingly won’t leave you in a hurry, offering a blisteringly brilliant deep dive into a volatile relationship, that is both uproarious and sincere.