Weekend has the ability to take an age-old story and put a new realistic spin on same. Weekend, a British film, starts as a one-night stand but evolves into a full-fledged relation. Being an indie film the depiction of gay men is treated with a kind of realism sorely missing from studio films. Weekend walks the walk and talks the talk.

On a side note, there’s another film from 2024 with the same title (a Polish crime thriller) as well as Godard’s 1967 Week End. No relation. Weekend gets hot and heavy at times in keeping with its verisimilitude but it’s never as explicit as the German art house hit from 1980 Taxi zum Klo. Weekend is more concerned with establishing real life characterizations for a specific demographic than pandering to a generic crowd. In keeping with its tone Weekend doesn’t offer any easy answers nor does it promise that everyone ends up happily ever after in love.

Hollywood, which Weekend ain’t, makes a habit of offering stereotypical characters from all walks of life, perhaps the worst being George Carlin in Prince of Tides as the gay neighbor. Likewise Hollywood favors flamboyant gay portrayals that actually cater to straight audiences over gay audiences, films like Happy, Texas or I Love You Phillip Morris. Weekend opens this weekend at the Landmark River Oaks Three.

- Michael Bergeron