Seeing Heaven

2010, 106 minutes, UK


'All the public want is pretty flesh'.

Following a relaxing holiday where I did not manage to watch any films, I had a little catch up. The first one from LoveFilm was another TLA Release called Seeing Heaven. Now, for those who are not familiar with TLA, the produce LGBT independent cinema. They are never big films and generally only watched by the LGBT community. The majority of them are guilty pleasure trashy films, and on rare occasions, actually top quality films. However, they sometimes release bad films that try to be art or say something profound about the gay community and this was one of those films.

Seeing Heaven tries too hard to mean something and reflect gay culture in some way. In this case, it looks at the porn and rent boy industries. It first fails with the terrible acting, which is made worse with the constant flash backs which is followed by another wooden expression. The film has a habit of overdoing the camera work and comes across as if the director is just trying to show what he can do. This ultimately fails and makes the film worse.

It also drags out every gay film cliche in the book and the constant Dorian Gray references were cringing. So many other titles have managed to cover this subject better. Strapped, for example, is another TLA release and it manages to cover the issue of prostitution, say something interesting about gay men while not taking itself seriously. 90% of TLA Releases are good or fun, but it is titles like Seeing Heaven that just should not have been made.

I have noticed that I have been quite harsh with the films so far, but this is the luck of the draw with my account. I also go through stages of getting films which I love. This is what I love about the service as well as films generally - seeing what is out there, good or bad.

0.5/5 - Just terrible