User reviews

Not many directors start their full-length future film careers with powerful films. The few examples I can think of include Jean-Luc Godard with his 'À bout de soufflé' ('Breathless'), Alejandro González Iñárritu's 'Amores Perros', Gus van Sant's 'Mala Noche', Larry Clark's 'Kids' and Xavier Dolan's 'I killed my mother' ('J'ai tué ma mère'). And now there is another one on my list: Andrew Steggall's 'Departure'.

Elliot (Alex Lawther) and his mother Beatrice (Juliet Stevenson) are vacating their holiday home in the south of France. As they are packing, a picture unfolds. Once happy times don't seem so happy anymore. Could the absent husband be part of the problem? It is not that simple. We gradually get to know the mother and her son. Beatrice's life is slowly crumbling away, while Elliot, on the other hand, seems to be living in his own world. Elliot meets a French lad, Clément (Phénix Brossard) a few years older than him and develops a crush on him. Both boys have issues to deal with, influencing their friendship. When Elliot's dad arrives, matters come to a point.

This film has several strong points: The cinematography by Brian Fawcett is outstanding, be it of the forest and river landscapes, or indoor scenes. I found the acting excellent; special mention must be made of the powerful performances of Juliet Stevenson and Alex Lawther. My only negative comment is that the editing could have been a tad tighter, particularly regarding the underwater footage that seems to be over-emphasized. This is only a minor issue and has no serious impact on this rewarding film. I am looking forward to Andrew Seggall's next film. I score 'Departure' an excellent 8/10.

This is a simple story that has so many layers that it becomes completely complex. Beatrice (Juliet Stevenson) is going through a marital crisis and she has brought her son – Elliot (Alex Lawther 'X and y') to help her pack up their idyllic summer home in rural France; it having become another victim to the relationships deterioration. Then Elliot sees a local lad swimming in the reservoir – which is strictly not allowed – and decides he has to get to know this boy better – a lot better.

This is Clement and he is a force of nature , all emotion and rough hewed charm and his arrival makes the simple act of closing down one part of their lives become more about opening up what – until then – had remained closed off in their lives.

This is beautifully filmed and acted to perfection. It is almost painfully honest in places and the raw emotions are both riveting and almost repulsive in equal measure. This is a film that seems to take its time but it really doesn't it is strong and measured and the characters seem completely real. The depth of the story is as complex as reality often is and strikes home all the more forcefully for it. In short this is an absolutely stunning film that is worth all the plaudits and more.

This film bears a similarity to Call Me By Your Name in the way that it has been filmed. The cameraman has an artists eye and it has been recorded in some beautiful locations. And it's about a young boys teenage experiences. It also bears a resemblance to Food Of Love and not just because Juliet Stevenson plays the mother of a gay lad in that one too, but the semi-love triangle is a common motif. I'm beginning to think she may be a little type cast?

It's a nice story, although it doesn't really get anywhere. I like something with a good ending personally. It's full of passion and emotion which creates drama. I can't help wondering whether I should feel bad that I've never felt so angry or confused that I've acted out in some of the ways portrayed here. Or should I feel happy that I deal with my drama better?

I felt that the lead, played by Alex Lawther was acted very well. An eccentric character with many quirks who can't have been easy to play. The character of Clement was cute, so he kept me watching and his story was interesting anyway. I don't really feel that the Dad was needed in the film and we could have seen the reactions to him from phone calls, rather than in the flesh and in fact his side of things didn't really add anything.

I might like to see a follow up film showing what happened next as, like I say, it all seems a bit open ended.

Worth a watch and I would consider buying it to keep in my DVD collection.

Excellent film. Beautiful backdrop of rural Languedoc in autumn, natural peaceful and unspoiled whilst the lives of the characters portrayed are anything but. I do not agree at all with those reviewers here who give the movie a panning. I thought it was very sensitively handled and there was a lot of authenticity and insight into young Elliott's first gay fumblings.

Yes, some bits of dialogue and screenplay were a bit clunky and wooden, especially when the father arrived towards the end of the film. But I really enjoyed the interaction and exploration between the two young men: lonely young gay English lad bored with his mother on holiday bumps into sexy athletic moody young Frenchman , OK you could say it is 'cliched', but so much of our lives are unoriginal, but no less exciting when it happens to us for the first time at that age. I saw a lot of myself in Elliott.

One of the most enjoyable gay movies I have seen in a long time. And the fact there was very little sex in it was not a problem at all. It improved the narrative. Less is more in this case. Well done Andrew Steggall.

I thought this was a good coming of age movie for a gay audience. It doesn't feel like typical gay movies do, and manages to have some actually decent acting, writing, and scenery in it.

The movie is kinda dark. It has some really dark elements to it, and in a way that actually helps you to feel a bit more for the protagonist. Without the dark bits, he would be kind of a boring gay youth, and not a great coming of age tale. The dark elements make the movie a little more exciting, and give you a reason to care about the boy.

I did like his reaction in the boat scene. He really acted that quite well. It felt very genuine, and shows what a good actor he is. In fact, I liked him in that Netflix series he was in. The other gay movie he did about James Saint James was pretty good too, even though I don't actually care for that personality.

So, I think he did an excellent job in this movie. I've rarely seen a gay reaction like that, and felt like I could totally relate to it. The whole thing feels like what being a gay teenager often feels like. Dark is appropriate.

I've wanted to watch it again, which is rare for me to want to see any movie more than once, and so that speaks pretty highly of it. I'd very much recommend it, but it's not the sort of movie which is a real joy to watch. More of a nostalgia piece which is slightly more exciting than real life was. I doubt it would appeal much to a younger audience, though.

Teenage Elliott and his mother Beatrice return for one last time to the beautiful family house in South-West France in the autumn, to pack up and sell it. Whilst there, they meet someone who touches them both.

"Do you think you can know something before it happens?" asks the young Elliott. As the autumn leaves fall and Elliott explores his sexuality, he realises the summer of innocence is gone forever.

Juliet Stevenson and Alex Lawther are perfect in this haunting film. The photography is stunningly beautiful and complimented by a wonderful soundtrack including Oliver Daldry.

This is a film you will want to see again.

Really well done and artful performances by the small strong cast.

The melancholy feel through the entire film is enhanced by brief periods of happiness and hope for the main character.

I loved the film at the same time as being pissed off that everybody would seem to lose in the end. You can smell the ultimate emptiness through the slow burning plot line.

This is quite a dreary film, a rather awful way to experience 1 hour and 49 minutes. These get to be rather long minutes, as this is Art Film writ large in all the wrong ways. It is the story of (1) an aging English woman, a mother, who has never found the pulse in life, (2) her adolescent son, somewhat effeminate, who is or aspires to be a writer, and (3) a troubled young French man (or late adolescent) who is living with his aunt in the south of France while his mother is seriously ill back in Paris. The characters all live wooden lives, are walking breathing sacks of misery, and they know it. Apparently, the writer/director thinks that this misery is so precious that the film can stand on it alone; hence, we spend many long moments simply watching faces and postures of these characters while they are feeling crushed by life. Other stretches are considerably more disturbing or cringe-worthy. The only joy in this film is entirely passive: we are provided many opportunities to savor the rather somber beauty of rural Languedoc in autumn.

Andrew Steggall's lovingly directed first feature is a breath of fresh air in the British cinema scene. What at first sight looks to be a quite familiar LGBT coming of age story is turned by Steggall and his lead actress, Juliet Stevenson, into a far deeper and more engaging story. Elliott's (Alex Lawther) discovery of his own sexuality is beautifully framed against the collapse of his parents' marriage and their discovery that their lives had been based on falsehoods that, in some sense had crept up on them unawares. This is a film that will reach out far beyond the LGBT market and should do well across the European art scene. Very finely and delicately shot in the Languedoc region of France it establishes Steggall as a truly new voice in British cinema - not just composed and assured in the medium but with a distinct aesthetic of his own. It will be fascinating to see where he goes in his next feature - surely a larger and even more ambitious project.

Throughout the film people walk out of the frame. The characters depart the scene, or action, or interaction. They continually depart from personal and emotional interactions with each other.

These repeated bits of business make for an interesting filmic concept. I'm not sure they necessarily make for an interesting film. The film might have been just as well called "Avoidance" because that's what's happening eighty percent of the time. In fact, it makes a somewhat dull film.

The sexual tension between the son, Elliot, and the French boy, Clement is what really makes the film tolerable, particularly for us Gay guys. In truth the film only really comes alive when Phénix Brossard (Clement) is on the screen. He radiates hormonal maleness; it's hard to take your eyes off him. The rest of the time it's mostly mother and son tolerating each other. Politely, for the most part. They have a bad case of First World problems that doesn't make them particularly sympathetic.

I want to like this movie, but I can't. I can't really criticize it either... what it's doing, it's doing well. Although when it fails-as it does in the fantasy sequences-I found it cringe making. But other than those few scenes, the movie is delivering its message on point. It's just that the message isn't all that interesting.

"Departure" is another of those precious coming-of-age films that the British or the French, in particular, tend to do rather well, this one being British but set in France where Juliet Stevenson and her teenage son Alex Lawther have come to sell the family's holiday home. Young Lawther, (twenty when the film was made but looking much younger), is also discovering his sexuality and it isn't girls he appears to be interested in, so when he spies a slightly older French boy on a bridge, his hormones start working overtime. Rather awkwardly, when Juliet meets him she, too, is drawn to him.

Beautifully photographed, intelligently written and directed by Andrew Steggall, whose first feature this is, and very nicely acted, "Departure" is one of those films you feel churlish criticizing, rather like throwing stones at a nun and I suppose you could say that in its own way it is absolutely perfect, perfect and lifeless and more than a little contrived. Since young Alex wants to be a writer you wonder how much of it may be autobiographical but if it is, what a dull coming-of-age Steggall must have had; you keep waiting and waiting for something to happen and when it does, it's a case of so-what. This is the kind of art-house film Joanna Hogg makes, which may be a recommendation to some and an anathema to others. As I said, it's 'precious'.

Andrew Stegall's film 'Departure' tells the story of a son and his mother under pressure when they have to sell their holiday home in the wake of the break-up of her marriage; and simultaneously, of the son's nascent interest in a local youth. At times, we're dangerously close to Joanna Hogg territory (and I don't mean that kindly), but the characters are mercifully drawn with more warmth and we're allowed enough of a glimpse of the back-story so that the film makes sense. It's still not quite right, however, with alterations between sections that are well-crafted, dull Hogg-like periods where nothing happens save for the characters sulking in their misery, and occasional moments oddly presented as ephanaic in a way that jibes with the mood of the rest of the film. It's not awful, but I found it hard to get engaged.

This is one of those dreary films you wander into, often set in France or Italy, quickly noticing similarities to other films, then worrying suddenly and embarrassingly if you have in fact already seen it. Then, when the carrot comes into play, you realize that was not the case.

But I am unkind. Even though I fell asleep twice before the end and had to reorient my bearings as to where it was going, I did appreciate its production values and the quality of the acting. The narrative, such as it is, involves a teenager dealing going through a problematic puberty and his childishly dysfunctional parents. Add to the mix an older teen from Paris who is himself careless about his feelings and you wind up with a brief moment of catharsis long overdue.

Long story short, all the previous films like this involving Yanks or Brits finding gorgeous farmhouses tucked away in bucolic locales of southern Europe are by now far too cliché to be taken seriously.

Last year there was only one film that completely shocked me, that put in turmoil the brain and heart, occupying a place for a very long time. It was MOMMY, by Xavier Dolan. DEPARTURE had a similar effect on me. It's a small film, independent, a debut. And perhaps for all these three reasons, there is an urgency so sincere to tell this story to make its strength and its power literally unstoppable. DEPARTURE is a wonderful piece of cinema, which reveals a great director of the future. Powerful, bright, completely honest. Well written, well directed, well played. It comes from the heart. And it goes to the heart.

This is one of those character driven movies that draw you in from beginning to end.

The movie follows mother and son over a week as they pack up a vacation home and ready it for sale. They meet a local boy enters their lives and complicate matters.

Although slow moving at times, I found this a fascinating watch with believable characters and situations.

10+10+10 Stars! This film tugs my heart on SO many levels. Alex Lawther is magnificent. I felt every emotion along with him. Juliet and Phénix round the cast brilliantly. Tears of joy!

I don't expect a lightning pace from an indie arthouse film, but this movie crawls at an agonizing plod. About 20 minutes in, the 1.5x speed became necessary to slog through this monster.

The characters are depressing and hollow. There is no growth. The entire movie is an excercise in futility.

The only redeeming quality is the beautifully shot locations. Take a hard pass on this one.