Departures

If you groan at the thought of another film opening with the protagonist asking “How did I get myself into this wacky situation?” then Neil Ely and Lloyd Eyre-Morgan’s irreverent romcom may initially make you wary, skipping as it does “right to the fucking end.” In this case, however, it’s not really the end of the film, just the end of a relationship. There have been many such unhappy endings for Benji, who is played with a refreshing lack of vanity by Eyre-Morgan himself. For some reason, he can’t get over this one. Perhaps it’s because he has finally realised that his real problem is with the type of men he seeks out at the beginning.

Dedicated to all the people who screwed over its directors in the past, the film hinges on an all too common problem. Benji is submissive, wanting a man who will push him around and dominate him sexually, which would be fine were it not that he struggles to differentiate that from being used and abused. What he really wants is someone who will treat him roughly and then hug him afterwards, someone who will slap him in the bedroom but hold his hand in the street. What he gets, over and over again, is men who take advantage.

The man he can’t get over is Jake (former Hollyoaks star David Tag). We follow their affair – Benji calls it a relationship, Jake “just a bit of fun” – in flashback, from their first meeting in an airport bar through a series of weekends in Amsterdam. The deal is that Jake, who admits he’s attracted to men as well as women but doesn’t want to put a label on it, as if still trying to tell himself he’s straight, pays for everything, flying Benji out there, and then gets to make all the decisions about what they do, which is almost exclusively sexual. He’s wealthy and naturally dominant and looks rather like the young Sean Connery, so many viewers might consider this an appealing arrangement, but the cracks soon begin to show. Jake is not only in denial about his own feelings, losing his temper when pressed, but he has very little empathy, struggling to fully grasp the concept that other people have needs. Benji, insecure as he is, takes a while to recognise this, quick to believe that when things go wrong it must be his fault.

Two factors make the film successful. The first is the energy is brings to everything, aided by Eyre-Morgan’s lively narration. The second is the complexity of Jake, in both script and performance. He’s not just a one-note handsome villain but a man with limited psychosocial skills trying to find his way in a world which privileges what he knows to be the worst things about himself. Flashbacks to a troubled (but entertaining) childhood invite sympathy which, of course, is a trap for Benji. Likewise the little flashes of deeper feeling and the suggestion that he feels trapped by the home life he won’t talk about. In his own way he might be trying to do the right thing, but he’s ill-equipped to understand what that is, and his mistakes make his situation increasingly difficult to resolve.

Though he’s also a mess, Benji has the advantage of understanding that from the outset. His response when things go wrong, bombarding Jake with text messages, is clearly counterproductive. His mum’s attempts to talk sense into him get nowhere. His main coping mechanism – seeking rough sex with strangers – puts him at risk in multiple ways as he increasingly ignores warning signs. His alcohol consumption exacerbates everything, but he knows that he’s in trouble and takes action to find a way out.

There is plenty here for viewers to relate to, whether or not they’ve ever gone to those extremes. There’s also an ample supply of humour, with laugh-out-loud moments occurring in the bleakest situations. The filmmakers take risks with this, pushing the boundaries of what will work, but consistently get away with it. This succeeds in making Benji and endearing character despite his sulking and self-destruction. Even the homophobia in the film becomes comic in its tweeness.

A truly refreshing take on relationship-focused filmmaking, Departures is a cautionary tale but great fun to watch, and you should catch it if you can.

Reviewed on: 16 Apr 2026