de facto film reviews 3.5 stars

The story of the LGBTQ community across the world is a story of struggle. Struggle for acceptance, struggle for rights, and in many cases, struggle for survival. While the United Kingdom decriminalized homosexuality in the 1960s, legality didn’t necessarily come with tolerance. In the late 1980’s the Thatcher government proposed Section 28, legislation that would prohibit “promoting” homosexuality by government agencies and schools. I had passing familiarity with Section 28 because of the part it played in the public coming out story of Sir Ian McKellen. But it affected thousands of gay people across the UK for over a decade. In her wonderful debut feature film as writer-director, Georgia Oakley tells the story of Jean, a young lesbian woman living in the era of the passage of Section 28.

Jean (Rosy McEwen) is a phys-ed teacher and netball coach at a secondary school in Northern England. She seems popular with her students, especially with Siobhan (Lydia Page), but is reserved around her coworkers. We soon learn that this is because she is a lesbian who is closeted to all but her closest friends. In public, even at a gay bar with those same friends, including her girlfriend Viv (Kerrie Hayes), she is not especially outgoing. While Viv and some of her other friends are living life in the open, Jean is fearful that her secret will get out. We see her shrink away from a nosy neighbor, and be uncomfortable in public when Viv is even slightly confrontational with others. When Jean’s sister stops by unexpectedly to ask for help watching her son, Jean forces Viv to hide, and then leave. Viv is understandably upset. Soon after, Lois (Lucy Halliday) joins Jean’s class as a new student. Lois seems different from the other girls, and they soon start taunting her about possibly being a lesbian. Jean soon learns the truth of this when she spots Lois at the bar she and her friends frequent. Her friends seem willing to have Lois around, but Jean is terrified that she’ll lose her secret and her job. When a misunderstanding finally prompts Viv to ask how Jean knows Lois, Viv tells Jean that living in the closet sets a terrible example for the next generation. An incident between Lois and Siobhan leaves Jean with a choice of standing up for the girl or getting her out of Jean’s life, Jean’s choice sets the stage for major change.

Blue Jean (2022) - IMDb Courtesy Magnolia Pictures 

Blue Jean is a powerful film. And a great deal of its power comes from the performance of Rosy McEwen. McEwen plays the loneliness of Jean’s life to heartbreaking perfection. She has moments of peace and passion with Viv, but outside of their respective rooms, the fear returns. In a love scene later in the film, just the noise of friends in the next room is enough to stop Jean in her tracks. It’s a beautifully interior performance, played often just in McEwen’s eyes. This makes a later sequence of scenes when McEwen is able to give Jean exterior agency all the more effective. It’s a performance that should be in the awards season conversation this year. The supporting performances are solid, with Kerrie Hayes doing excellent work as Viv. A late scene where she tells Jean that she can’t go through another relationship with someone who isn’t ready to be their true self is her strongest moment.

Oakley is not necessarily telling a groundbreaking story in Blue Jean. Stories about people living closeted lives are relatively common in film and television. However, the humanity behind her writing brings the film to a higher level. Jean feels like a real person, with fears, and passions and love, with bad choices, and remorse. It’s also a clever storytelling choice to not have Section 28 foregrounded, but instead to have stories about it popping up in radio broadcasts and news stories in the background of the film.

Oakley’s directorial efforts capture the era well, and don’t distract from the story she is telling. But perhaps more importantly than telling a groundbreaking story, Oakley is telling a story incredibly relevant to the current moment. As with Section 28’s purported purpose, there are the current book bans, drag show legislation, “Don’t Say Gay” bills, and an overall rise in anti-LGBTQ activity, at least among Republican politicians and their most rabid base – all in the name of protecting children. But just like with Section 28, it’s all an excuse to justify their hate. If these people could be broken out of their Bud Light and Target-rainbow fueled rages, it would be good for them to see a film like Blue Jean – a film concerned with people trying to break free of fear to find love and peace in the world, people just like all of us. This is a stellar debut film, and I look forward to whatever Oakley (and McEwen) releases in the future.

Blue Jean opens in limited theaters June 9