Regardless of some undercooked themes and the odd over-explanation, “Chuck Chuck Child” superbly explores what it means to be queer in a small city. “I can not breathe right here,” Joanne tells Helen in a revealing second. It is a superbly written line that speaks deeply to the problems queer folks face rising up, and the way homophobia lingers lengthy and stews within the thoughts for days, months, and even years after the phrases have been mentioned. Returning to her hometown is extremely tough for Joanne, whose upbringing by no means allowed her to embrace who she was, hiding away her true emotions for Helen. Solely 20 years later is Joanne lastly in a position to inform Helen her emotions, having been in a position to open up about her sexuality away from her hometown trappings. The impression of small-town homophobia has clearly impacted Helen too, who’s lived a life that is not amounted to an entire lot, as she’s felt extra snug within the shadows; you can’t damage what you can’t see, which appears to be the mantra she’s unwittingly saddled herself with.
Watching Helen embrace her true emotions and slowly however certainly make her manner into herself is the place “Chuck Chuck Child” is greatest. Louise Brealey provides a superb efficiency, refusing to succumb to showy shows, as an alternative preferring a gradual revolution that feels grounded and plausible. Her chemistry with Annabel Scholey is potent, and their burgeoning relationship is beautiful — these characters have waited many years for this relationship to turn into a actuality, and you’ll really feel the joy, and the trepidation, in every second.
That is in the end a movie concerning the heat and energy of feminine relationships. Whether or not between Gwen and Helen, Helen and her co-workers, or the romance of Helen and Joanne, these connections are heat and cuddly, notably in distinction to the icy relationship between Helen and her ex Gary. The way in which these ladies assist and uplift one another, whether or not via a young, understanding look, or a screaming outburst, is cleverly captured.
Although “Chuck Chuck Child” treads acquainted plot beats and provides little shock, it is one thing of a feat to show such acquainted British movie territory into one thing prominently LGBT+. Its innate understanding of queerness and feminine bonds permits the lesbian relationship to by no means really feel like window dressing. It is a movie about how we do not have to just accept the playing cards dealt to us; it is by no means too late to need extra from life, and from residing.
/Movie Ranking: 6 out of 10