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| The two stars relax close together on the grass in practical clothes on this hype-boosting poster for Francis Lee's God's Own Country |
In the North-English countryside young Johnny lazily runs his father's sheep farm (including a few cows), while he drinks and fornicates aimlessly. Now the farm hires Romanian migrant worker Gheorghe, and life changes for Johnny.
God's Own Country is written and directed by debuting Francis Lee (The Farmer's Wife (2012, short)).
Very brazen and sensually focused on the bodies of the two men falling for each other and the nature that surrounds them, (although God's Own Country avoids explicit shots), the film warms up to an increasingly sweet romance, which is appealing and moving. The leads, Josh O'Connor (The Program (2015)) and Alec Secareanu (Thirty (2013, short)), have charisma and chemistry, and Johnny's parents are also well-acted (by Gemma Jones (You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)) and Ian Hart (The Bridge (2014, TV-series))).
God's Own Country has a tenderness for the country and the labor involved in the farmwork and handling the animals, which also distinguishes this personal and authentic offering.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 1 mil. £, approximately 1.41 mil. $
Box office: 2.5 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.77 times its cost)
[God's Own Country premiered 23 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 105 minutes. The script is partly based on Lee's own life, as he left the family farm to go to drama school. Shooting took place in West Yorkshire, England. It opened #57 to a 1k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it grossed 335k $ (13.4 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was the UK where it grossed 1.1 mil. $ (44 %); North America was the 2nd biggest, and the Netherlands was 3rd biggest with 297k $ (11.9 %). It was not released in homophobic countries such as China, Russia, Malaysia, Arab countries and in Eastern Europe, apart from in Romania. The film won an award at the Berlin International Film Festival, 4/11 British Independent Film awards, an award at Sundance, and was nominated for a BAFTA, among other honors. Lee returned with Ammonite (2020). O'Connor returned in Boys on Film 18: Heroes (2018, segment) and theatrically in Only You (2018); Secareanu in 4 TV and short credits prior to his theatrical return in Amulet (2020). God's Own Country is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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