Couch Potato's DVD Pickings: Beyond the Walls

(Image credit: Matthieu Poirot-Delpech)

Ignore this film’s forgettable title. It sheds little light on either the style or content of this hard-hitting relationship drama, which features two stars of the popular French zombie thriller series The Returned in the lead roles.

Matila Malliarakis and Guillaume Gouix star as Paolo and Ilir, a boyish pianist and a hunky barman who fall in love after the former gets legless during a boozy evening.

Despite his involvement with a woman and vulnerable demeanour, Paolo wins over the more elusive Ilir with his boyish charms, but their relationship is soon placed under immense strain when Ilir ends up in prison for drugs possession.

This is an impressive directorial debut from Belgian writer David Lambert, and paints a very realistic and honest picture of a love affair that borders on the dysfunctional.

In fact, in capturing the funny, passionate and moving moments that can occur in an intense relationship between two men, this movie follows in the footsteps of Andrew Haigh’s Weekend and Ira Sachs’s Keep the Lights On and fans of those two films should definitely check it out.

Beyond the Walls is released on DVD by Peccadillo Pictures on 26th August.

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