The Nature of Nicholas

What promised to be an interesting film of a young boy's awakening sexuality ended up a plodding, messy story that meandered all over the place. When the movie ended, I was left wondering what exactly was the message? In a Q&A session after the movie, the director was asked what was the point of the film, but he didn't seem to have an answer. The Canadian "pauses" did not add anything to the movie, other than stretch 20 minutes worth of story into a 90 minute film. On the positive side, the acting (especially Jeff Sutton as Nicholas) was very good and many shots looked beautiful. Unfortunately, this film is confusing and a major disappointment.