Beach Rats

love it

This is not your usual feel-good gay-themed movie, where after various hardships the gay main character wins his love-interest and/or the acceptance of his family and friends. No happy ending here. Main character Frankie is a young guy who secretly lives out his gay tendencies, but at the same time cannot cope with this and vehemently denies to himself that he could actually be homosexual. At home (a mother and a younger teenage sister, there seems to be no father) and among his group of macho friends he acts like the conventional straight streetwise guy, strolling with his mates along the streets and the beach (hence the Beach Rats) or sullenly hanging out with them, blowing, drinking and cracking macho jokes. But in the privacy of his room he cruises the internet, looks at gay * and makes gay sex-dates. This movie pictures poignantly the frustration and the depression, almost schizophrenia, that results from this ambiguity, where Frankie persistently refuses to see the obvious signs that point out his true sexual identity and the potential help that's offered him (like from his mom who gradually begins to suspect what the problem is but doesn't dare to interfere). It's touching to see how witnessing his little sister hanging out with her boyfriend angers him, because she evidently can have what he so desperately wants: a satisfying and legit love-life. When in an ill-fated attempt to mix his straight and his gay life he tells his friends that he meets gay guys to obtain their weed, things take a violent turn and he has to face the consequences of his own ambiguous behavior, all the more realizing that he can't have both worlds, but still unable to choose or even admitting that there could be a choice. In the closing scene this is illustrated by the fireworks that blast above Coney Island while Frankie wanders disconsolately along the boardwalks; early in the movie he himself pointed out that there's nothing romantic or special about these fireworks, since they are repeated week after week. So we are to understand that Frankie feels like nothing will change in his life. This may be a depressing movie, but it is sincerely and sensitively made, without falling into the trap of melodrama. Harry Dickinson does an excellent and very convincing job as Frankie, with few words but all the more with his expressions and attitude. Maybe it's too dark for everyones taste, but in my opinion it gives a very realistic account of what goes on in the head of a type of gay being-in-the-closet that doen't get that much attention: not a gay man who knows his true sexual identity but stays in the closet out of fear of the reactions of his surroundings, but one that even to himself denies being gay in spite of all the contrary signs, and has to cope with the schizophrenia of that. I know all about it, I've been there. It's a pity that the script didn't provide a happier conclusion, but with me it took until my 40'th birthday, so there's still hope for Frankie.

Woah. I knew almost nothing going into this but it really affected me like few films this year. It was tough seeing such a repressed, confused character in such a dark state of mind, especially one that was going through such a similar experience to many others and I in the LGBTQ+ community. The lead, Harris Dickinsion, was so authentic and genuine, it made it that much more difficult to watch him go through what he does here. The film doesn't deliver anything in terms of a satisfying conclusion or tidy little arc. Instead, it becomes harder to watch the more it goes. I don't know, I just found this to be quite powerful.

'Beach Rats' has received positive reviews.Is it worthy of them? Eliza Hit-man's 'Beach Rats' protagonist Frankie has nothing going for him. In a way, he's 'Saturday Night Fever's' Tony Manero of the 21 century. Like Tony he lives with his family, but unlike him, he doesn't work; he's listless. Unlike Tony who has no future other than working in a local paint shop,but lives for the weekends dancing; on the other hand, Frankie is a sixes and sevens, trolling the web for trysts with older men for sex. Unlike Tony who is sure of his sexuality (he adjusts his junk before a mirror before going off to a discotheque). Frankie fears his homosexuality. (Older men don't live in Frankie's world, so it is a 'condom' to protect his doubts and secrets._ Hit-man has created a closed world of the white working class in Gravesend or Sheepshead in the wake of 9/ll and the 2008 world recession. It is a bleak world,a world that for Frankie and his friends with boundaries that end in Coney Island or the bushes of the Belt Parkway where Frankie has sex. A closed in world with no exit: Frankie hangs with three friends, who, like him, are more teenagers than adults. We know little about them, other than Frankie supplies them with marijuana and his dying father's pain killers to dull the pain cancer causes. Frankie is in his own world;he lives in the basement with his computer he uses to find men... They play handball, a sport that once was an important sport in Brooklyn, but no more. And they congregate in a smoke shop, and live for the weekend at Coney Island, seeing the same fireworks week after week, ogling girls, going on rides and getting stoned. Frankie hooks up with Simone a salesgirl with no future too.She chooses Frankie because he's sexy and more pretty than handsome. Frankie's a cynic of sorts; he asks here if she had sex with another girl; she had which she characterizes as 'hot'; he then asks her what about two men who have sex; her reply is a curt..they're gay. Even sex with her remains a last resort, as his sense of self walks on the edge' Frankie is becomes more an outsider as he retreats into self doubt and afraid to come to terms with who he is. Frankie and his friends will stoop to pickpocket on the boardwalk to pay for a weekend of fun, drugs and feel 'strong' and manly, not aimless and lost. Ultimately Frankie lets his friends in his secret as a way to get 'weed'. The victim is beaten and left in the Atlantic to fend for himself. And he seeks respite on the boardwalk of Coney Island, alone and no more sure of who he is... As a sociological statement, 'Beach Rat' is worth seeing. As a film, it has the feel of a graduate school exercise. Coney Island is wonderfully photographed, but Brooklyn remains elusive as does Frankie.

This is another one of those gay themed movies that tries to show some deeply hidden emotions or something, but instead goes nowhere. Let's start with what's good first... Most of the cinematography is pretty good - expect for overly shaky camera in few scenes. There is a lot of eye candy in terms of shirtless guys and more - can help in making the movie at least a bit more interesting. And the acting isn't totally bad. At least the actors don't feel stiff. Sadly that is where good things end. There is little dialogue in the movie, though that is not always a bad thing. But in this movie it actually is. Because we don't really see any character development and no real story. We have a young guy that takes drugs, has sex with older men and spends time with his friends doing stupid things. That's almost the entire story. Backing characters have no names, no personality and really don't do anything. Main character... pretty much the same. No ambitions, no desires, no anger, nothing. He just is. Pretty much the whole thing can be seen in the trailer. You will get the same story if you look at pictures of random strangers in a city near a beach. Though those will probably have more depth. Overall I can't really recommend this one. If you want teens coming to terms with life and their sexuality go watch something like Hidden Kisses or Boys and leave this one alone.

Seen at the Viennale 2017: A guy is really really bored. And we have to watch him on screen. He is gay and takes drugs. And he meets older men. So what? I cannot really believe, that boys like him exist. At least he is gay and is looking for sex. I assume that a young boy who is eager for sex has a vital force in himself, driving him to stupid ideas and encounters. But this boy does not have any urge in him. I guess, in reality he would not even search for sex with such low energy in him. I guess, the real gay boys on that beach are much more filled with energy, what cannot be imagined or shown in an art movie by a director without similar inner needs. Real life is not that lifeless.

I went to IMDb to see what other people had said about this film, and the very first review I saw had the title of "Boring." "Beach Rats" is quiet and thoughtful, and it demands a certain amount of patience, but it breaks my heart that someone would dismiss it as boring. It follows a lost youth navigating the no man's land between teenager and adult as he tries to figure out how to be the person he wants to be -- whoever that is -- in an environment that tells him who he should be. He hangs out with a bunch of losers who speak in a kind of dumb bro language and couldn't string together an articulate thought between the three of them while wandering aimlessly around Coney Island and its environs looking to score easy drugs. Meanwhile, he carries on a secret life of gay encounters with older men while at the same time trying to force himself to enjoy a relationship with a young woman who's too mature for him. Is he gay? Probably. Does he specifically seek out older men as father figures because his own dad just recently died of lingering cancer? Maybe. But the point is that he doesn't have the tools required to process any of the things he's feeling because he lives in a stunted place surrounded by stunted people, and it's easier to escape into feeling good the bad way than to put work into feeling better the hard way. More than anything "Beach Rats" is about how hard it is for men to explore their own feelings in a culture that has rigidly defined what it means to be masculine. Grade: A

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Harris Dickinson gives a great performance. The story however is too drawn out and boring at times, actually started fast forwarding. Should have been a short. Hopelessly on the fence and in need of a role model, guidance, therapy , something. Never gets moving and goes nowhere.

Woah. I knew almost nothing going into this but it really affected me like few films this year. It was tough seeing such a repressed, confused character in such a dark state of mind, especially one that was going through such a similar experience to many others and I in the LGBTQ+ community. The lead, Harris Dickinsion, was so authentic and genuine, it made it that much more difficult to watch him go through what he does here. The film doesn't deliver anything in terms of a satisfying conclusion or tidy little arc. Instead, it becomes harder to watch the more it goes. I don't know, I just found this to be quite powerful.