Our take
A sweet and wholesome tale of two boys falling in love against the backdrop of 90s homophobia and social issues. Jamie is a heavily bullied high schooler whose only sanctuary is his family’s low-income apartment. His mom Sandra decides to also make that apartment a sanctuary for Ste, another highschooler suffering from an abusive father and older brother. They share Jamie’s bed and their prospect of friendship quickly turns into something else.
Beautiful Thing is beautifully scripted and never too emotional. In fact, whenever the story moves towards the emotional, a funny scene is introduced to ease the tension. Many of these scenes feature Sandra’s boyfriend, a well-spoken hippie by the name of Tony. Features heavy British accents, subtitles may be necessary!
Streaming arrival
What it won
Cannes
1 nom
European Film Awards
1 nom
The story
During a long, hot summer on the Thamesmead Estate in Southeast London, three teenagers edge towards adulthood.
This is possibly the most beautiful gay love story out there. I loved it from beginning to end. The story is not only beautiful but believable from start to finish.
This is an excellent love story. While at university in 1996, it gave me hope that I would find love – and I did. It’s a timeless story – as relevant today as it was 23 years ago. Unfortunately, it is not available for digital rental at Amazon as agoodmovetowatch reports. One may purchase a DVD, however.