Of an Age *** (2022, Elias Anton, Thom Green, Hattie Hook) – Classic Movie Review 12,466

The wistful, engaging, bitter-sweet 2022 Australian romantic drama film Of an Age stars Elias Anton as the 17-year-old Serbian-born Australian amateur ballroom dancer Kol, who has an unforgettable 24-hour romance with Adam (Thom Green). 

Writer/ director Goran Stolevski’s wistful, engaging, bitter-sweet 2022 Australian romantic drama film Of an Age stars Elias Anton, Thom Green, and Hattie Hook.

Elias Anton plays the 17-year-old Serbian-born Australian amateur ballroom dancer Kol, who experiences an unexpected and intense 24-hour romance with Adam (Thom Green), older brother of his dance partner friend Ebony (Hattie Hook), back in the summer of 1999. It’s the night of Adam’s going away party before leaving Melbourne and starting a new life in South America.

Its very well played, actually quite delightfully performed by the two men, sharing great screen chemistry, and putting every step carefully in the right place. They are quite electric together, explaining their characters in looks and glances, smiles and tears, while relishing tackling the entertaining lines in the wordy, literate and intelligent screenplay. There is a lot of smart talk while driving in the car. The intense long take closeups, up close and personal, work a treat, though they are slightly unkind and unforgiving to the two handsome men’s faces.

The film is subtle and amusing, never pushing to hard, though hard enough, and eventually quite moving. It is simple and straightforward but effective and likeable, job well done. Hattie Hook has a bit of a thankless task as the neurotic dance partner friend Ebony, but she does it well, and somehow swings you over to her side, through pity mainly.

[Spoiler alert] The two guys are made for each other, no doubt about that, and love is in the air. But you just know everything is going to get in their way, and they won’t end up together, happily ever after. So this film is really going to frustrate all those seeking after happy endings. The moral of the story seems to be that it is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all. That is all very well, but this seems a bit of cold comfort. But, hey, there we are, that’s the way it is in Of an Age. Sad though. Maybe we could have a sequel where they meet again, and it all works out. That would be nice, Goran Stolevski.

The film premiered on 4 August 2022 at the Melbourne International Film Festival. It was screened at CinefestOZ, where it won the Best Film Award. It was released in the US by Focus Features on 17 February 2023 and in Australia by Roadshow Films on 23 March 2023.

The cast are Elias Anton as Kol, Thom Green as Adam, Hattie Hook as Ebony, Senuri Chandrani as Jaya, Toby Derrick as Jacob, Grace Graznak as Cora, Jessica Lu as Jenny, Jack Kenny as Mellor, Kasuni Imbulana as Tari, and Verity Higgins as Fay.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,466

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