Akron

Benny is in his first year at university. He meets Christopher at a football game and a relationship begins. Both families are supportive; the problem comes from neither the family nor the world around them. Then something emerges: there was an accident years ago and both mothers had a part in it. That is how the families know each other, and both hid it from their children. Brian O'Donnell directs. Matthew Frias and Edmund Donovan are in the cast. The film's choice is this: it builds a narrative about a relationship between two men and does not build the conflict on sexuality. Its crisis comes from somewhere else entirely, which is outside the usual mould. It was shot in Ohio on location for very little money, and some of the cast are not professionals. The narrative is quiet and measured; there are no scenes of shouting, and the matter grows through silence rather than talk. The family scenes are its soundest side; two houses from two different classes are built in detail. Its limit is the means; there are technically weak passages and some scenes stay amateur. Who it is for: viewers who like small scale American independent drama and quiet relationship narratives. Who it is not for: the pace is very slow, little happens, and the ending leans on an emotional resolution.