It’s too easy to sit in a darkened cinema surrounded by open-minded audiences at the Melbourne International Film Festival and think that coming out is easy to do these days. But that’s not necessarily the whole truth for everyone, whether in the city’s heart or way out in the ‘burbs. It’s skateboarding along the latter’s gum tree-swaddled cul-de-sacs, familiar territory for fans of Neighbours, that we meet Leo (Liam Mollica) in writer/director Gabriel Carrubba’s heartfelt feature debut Sunflower.
A handsome high schooler from a Greek-Italian family, Leo carries his sporty physique with the hunched uncertainty that’s recognisably teenaged, even more so for someone unsure of their sexual identity, hiding awkwardly in plain sight. Finding both safe harbour and hormonal confusion in boisterous tussles with best mate Boof (Luke J. Morgan, spot on), things get even more complicated when peer pressure pushes Leo towards crushing classmate Monique (Olivia Fildes). But Leo can’t stop himself from stealing glances at red-headed Tom (Daniel Halmarick), a buddy of his younger brother Gianni’s (Nelson Blattman, remarkably similar to Mollica).
If the coming-out-of-age story told here is as familiar as the goings on in Ramsay Street, then it’s leant a rewarding authenticity by Carrubba’s generosity, drawing deep from his not-too-distant school dramas to paint a beautiful portrait of a young man edging past adversity towards hope.
Bringing a rougher edge than sweet Heartstopper, there are confronting scenes of homophobic violence, both physical and psychological, with the F-word as shocking now as it ever was. Elias Anton, who so beautifully portrayed a queer teen in Goran Stolevski’s luminous, also Melbourne-set Of an Age, brings a menacing snarl as Boof’s big bro.
For all the teenage cruelty, there are really lovely moments. Like a Lego-destroying meet cute under illuminated bedroom ceiling stars and a shoulder to cry on from corners least expected. And then there’s the stuff that sits in the middle, around fractious family dinner table chats. Diana Ferreira and Sal Galofaro are both great as working-class parents struggling to navigate today’s teen banter – is a gathering a cult meeting or a small party? Good people, but Leo’s never quite sure if home will be a reliable port in the storm if he comes out as gay.
Martine Wolff’s hazy summer day-capturing cinematography is at its most beautiful during daydream sequences depicting Leo pushing through fields of the Van Gogh-inspiring flowers of the title. Marlon Grunden’s wistful score also works wonders in Carrubba’s promising debut that will hopefully serve as a reminder to be kind and body-swerve assumptions. For all its emotional maturity, Boof and Leo’s chorus of “penis” at a party will never not be hilarious. Sometimes teenagers need to be dumb.