Head On

Ari is nineteen, Greek Australian, living in Melbourne. He has no job, no plan, and hates his family; his parents, once political radicals, have in his view buried themselves in tradition. The film follows twenty-four hours of his life: drugs, drink, anonymous sex, and a rage that can neither accept nor refuse his own sexuality. Ana Kokkinos adapted Christos Tsiolkas's novel Loaded, with a screenplay by Andrew Bovell, Kokkinos and Mira Robertson. The narrative does not try to make Ari sympathetic and gives him no way out. Migrant family, class and sexuality press on him at once. Alex Dimitriades plays Ari. The film screened in Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, caused argument in Australia, and is counted among the significant works of queer cinema. Who it's for: Viewers who like 1990s Australian cinema, narratives built on migrant identity, and queer film history. Who it's not for: The drug and sex scenes are explicit and the protagonist continuously damages himself and those around him. No resolution is offered.