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Only You (2018 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Only You' is a romantic drama directed by Harry Wootliff, and starring Laia Costa and Josh O'Connor.
'Only You' premiered at The London Film Festival, nominated both for the First Feature Award '[https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/lff-62-juries-london-film-festival 2018 juries announced for 62nd BFI London Film Festival]' and IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award.'[https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/lff-62-iwc-schaffhausen-bursary-shortlist Shortlist revealed for UK films biggest bursary]' 'Only You' won The Critics Award at the 30th Dinard Film Festival,Lemercier, Fabien (30 September 2019) Cineuropa, Dinard [https://www.cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/378772/ Festivals/Awards] two British Independent Film Awards,BIFA website, [https://www.bifa.film/awards/2019/winners-nominations/ award winners] a Writers' Guild Award,[https://writersguild.org.uk/writers-guild-awards-2020-shortlist/ Writers' Guild Awards 2020 shortlist] and was BAFTA nominated.The Guardian, Baftas 2020: [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jan/07/the-full-list-of-nominations-for-the-baftas-2020 full list of nominations].
Plot
Elena, 35, is a cynic about relationships. Jake, 26, is a romantic. They meet randomly and have what they both presume to be a one-night-stand. They meet again, and consumed by infatuation, they spend day and night together, missing work, and talking into the early hours. Jake seamlessly moves in with Elena and she reveals a secret: for fear of rejection she lied about her age. She's not 29, she's 32. Jake doesn't care and says she's gorgeous. A little later she's 33 'or 34 or 35?' Jake puts the light on and points out she has aged six years in four hours. She says he'll be 30 when she is 40, and he might want to break up with her, but he says he doesn't care.
Elena insists the age difference is a problem - her parents' divorce has given her a fundamental mistrust of relationships. She pushes Jake away professing that she is ready to have children and he is too young their relationship will not last. Jake's mum died when he was seven and he was brought up by his father who was devoted to his wife, and has not had another relationship since her death. Jake has inherited a surety about love and commitment which Elena cannot resist. Jake tells Elena he wants nothing more than to make a family with her and he doesn't want to waste any time. They start to make love.
Six months later Elena isn't pregnant. A casual trip to the GP to check things are okay leads to tests at the hospital and a tense appointment during which Elena also reveals she had an abortion as a teenager, they are told that there is nothing wrong with either of them, but because they have been trying for over six months and Elena is over 35 years of age, they should put themselves on the list for an IVF date in another six months time. Elena has a horrible sense of foreboding. They have already embarked on a journey from which there is no turning back. Jake is optimistic. He is convinced that they will manage to conceive before the months are up. Elena is uplifted by Jake's optimism and buys into the idea that they will manage to have a baby naturally.
The months go by. Sex becomes strategically timed. It leads to nothing but disappointment and IVF starts to feel inevitable. Elena and Jake try to face it with optimism. They put it to the back of their minds that the odds of IVF resulting in a pregnancy are low. They embrace the injections and appointments and interventions. It is an opportunity to have a baby. It will be worth it. But it fails.
They both begin to privately doubt the possibility of ever having a family. They take out their disappointment on each other. Elena has a growing paranoia that Jake will leave her if she doesn't give him a child. A second round of IVF fails. An explosive argument leads to Elena telling Jake to leave. Jake tells Elena if he goes he will never come back.
After time apart, Elena attends her best friends wedding and when she returns home that evening she gathers Jake's remaining belongings and texts him suggesting they meet so she can deliver them to him. They meet in a cafe and Elena breaks down. She is still profoundly in love with him and she tells him he was right when he said that they already were a family and that what they had together was too special to lose. Jake walks out abruptly leaving Elena in tears. He goes to stay with his dad and talks to him about Elena. He tells his dad that he doesn't know what to do, he and Elena had a perfect relationship just like his dad and mum did and he doesn't know how to get that back. His dad explains to Jake that perfection is just an illusion. He asks Jake if he still loves Elena and Jake nods. He then asks him what he will do if they never have children together; Jake covers his face with his hands. In the penultimate scene Jake sits alone, thoughtful.
In the final scene, we see Elena walking through the park on an Autumnal afternoon. She eventually comes to Jake who stands waiting for her. They walk towards and embrace each other tenderly.
Cast
* Laia Costa as Elena Aldana
* Josh O'Connor as Jake
* Peter Wight as Andrew
* Lisa McGrillis as Carly
* Stuart Martin as Shane
* Isabelle Barth as Rose
* Orion Lee as Eddie
Production
Development
Harry Wootliff was primarily interested in telling a modern love story, that explores how life and people's expectations of love are in conflict.Yasmin, Omar (19 February 2019) 'Harpers Bazaar' [https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/entertainment/a26386076/infertility-taboo-cinema/ Is infertility the last taboo in cinema?] Yasmin Omar interviewed Wootliff alongside writer-director Tamara Jenkins, discussing whether infertility is the last taboo in cinema, Wootliff is quoted as saying Youre grieving the loss of a future and youre grieving the loss of nothing. People are still keeping it very secret... I think its more acceptable to talk about miscarriage than not being able to bear a child. Wootliff was interested in subverting stereotypes, I loved that hes the one whos open and shes less into wearing her heart on her sleeve... I wasnt pedaling this notion of a deranged woman pushed by her hormones to meet a man and have a baby.Wootliff is interested in the subtlety of female experience, as opposed to two-dimensional representations, I sometimes think its all about showing women to be very strong. I like my character because shes a lot of things: shes vulnerable, irrational, funny. Thats a woman. We have qualities that are deemed as less admirable perhaps because we are in a male-dominated society so why shouldnt we see them?The Observer (6 January 2019), [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jan/06/the-observer-rising-stars-of-2019-film-music-art-activism-food-books New talent: the rising stars of culture, science and food 2019]
Filming
Shot in Finnieston, Glasgow, over 25 days.Music
The film's original score was composed by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch[https://www.emilielf.com/ Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch] of FatCat Records. Other music used in the film included songs by, among others, Elvis Costello, Bronski Beat and Lhasa de Sela. Several critics cited the use of Costello's "I Want You" twice in the film; Mark Kermode made note of the soundtrack more broadly: "Musically, the piano and cello themes of Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch's sparse score are counterposed against an eclectic jukebox selection of tracks, most notably the anguished vocals of Elvis Costello's I Want You one of the most emotionally astute deployments of a pop song in a movie since Barry Jenkins's killer use of Barbara Lewis's Hello Stranger in Moonlight."Kermode, Mark (14 July 2019) 'The Observer', '[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/14/only-you-review-harry-wootliff-laia-costa-josh-oconnor-mark-kermode a perfectly realised story of love and longing]'Reception
'Only You' has been critically acclaimed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Beautifully filmed and powerfully acted, 'Only You' traces the arc of a relationship with refreshing honesty -- and marks Harry Wootliff as a writer-director to watch." Ian Freer of 'Empire' magazine noted the film's heartfelt, indie-romance aspirations, describing 'Only You' as "that rare effort that could go toe-to-toe with its American counterpart, a passionate, moving love story told with nuance and heart".Freer, Ian (8 July 2019) 'Empire' [https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/only-you/ Only You Review] Similarly Peter Bradshaw described it as "a poignant and compelling Venn diagram of passion and heartache".Bradshaw, Peter (10 July 2019) 'The Guardian' '[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/10/only-you-review-harry-wootliff-laia-costa-josh-oconnor a sad, tender and gloriously sexy love story]' Phil de Semlyen in 'Time Out' called 'Only You' a "compassionate, complex relationship drama will get you right in the feels",De Semlyen, Phil (4 July 2019) 'Time Out' '[https://www.timeout.com/london/film/only-you-1 Only You review]' while in 'Sight & Sound' Pamela Hutchinson reflected Wootliff's storytelling ability, 'a beautifully written screenplay, with a subtly symmetrical structure signposted by two spins of the mournful, urgent I Want You by Elvis Costello, but primarily driven by two recognisably familiar, fully realised characters'Hutchinson, Pamela (1 August 2019) 'Sight & Sound' [https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/reviews-recommendations/only-you-harry-wootliff-laia-costa-josh-o-connor-love-story-childlessness 'Only You review: a love forged in childlessness']
In 'The Observer', Mark Kermode felt Only You was 'a perfectly realised story of love and longing' and 'a terrifically engrossing drama about two wholly believable characters, made with the kind of wit, honesty and raw emotional intimacy that pierces right to the heart of their relationship'.Kermode, Mark (24 July 2019) 'The Observer' '[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/14/only-you-review-harry-wootliff-laia-costa-josh-oconnor-mark-kermode Only You review a perfectly realised story of love and longing]' In the 'Evening Standard', Charlotte O'Sullivan was quick to point out the original take on the subject matter, 'OConnor has argued that Only You is "as important as I, Daniel Blake". He's right. Via Elena and Jake, Wootliff champions the marginal and so-called imperfect.'O'Sulivan, Charlotte (12 July 2019) 'Evening Standard' [https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/film/only-you-film-review-a4188426.html "An earthy romance that champions imperfection"]
References
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