‘Of An Age’ Review – A Melancholic Romantic Drama About A Short But Transformative Romance

Some of the most transformative and impactful experiences in our lives can involve people we know for a brief but important time. While it’s comforting to believe that we’ll become inseparable with every person we connect with on a deeper level, sometimes life and circumstances have other plans. Sometimes destiny robs us of those we love.

The leads of the Australian romantic drama, Of An Age, meet a day before one of them is set to leave the country. Although their time together is brief, the connection made reverberates through the character’s lives even a decade later.

The film opens in 1999, a few weeks before the then dreaded Y2K arrives. Eighteen-year-old Kol (Elias Anton) is an amateur ballroom dancer who is timid, but intelligent and focused. He first graces the screen intensely focused on properly performing dance moves for a ballroom performance later that day. His dreams of winning the competition are quickly crushed when he receives a frantic and panicked call from his dancer partner, Ebony (Hattie Hook). After a night of intense partying, she has woken up an hour away from the pair’s hometown and needs him to pick her up.

After frantically trying to find a friend to take him to her, he reluctantly settles on her older brother, Adam (Thom Green). What develops from there is a powerful connection between the two that will be life changing for the both of them.

The chemistry between the two leads, Thom Green and Elias Anton, is extremely palpable and drives the film. Anton portrays Kol as a naive dreamer who doesn’t feel comfortable in his skin. Whether it’s at school or in his own home, it’s communicated to Kol that he’s different from others and doesn’t fit in. In contrast, Green’s Adam is older, confident, and self-assured. Life has made him bitter in some regards, but overall, he remains an optimist. It’s those traits that draw Kol to him. Green and Anton really sell the premise of two flawed souls connecting over the course of a day and discovering the love and acceptance they’ve always craved.

Hattie Hook does a great job as Adam’s sister, Ebony, as well. She’s the bitchy, self-centered girl everyone knew in high school. She’s a magnet for chaos, and although she wants to come off as uncaring and unimpressed, she occasionally reveals vulnerability that explains her personality. Her friendship with Kol is tragic because you can see that while he really cares about his only friend, she’s using him until she doesn’t need anymore.

Without revealing too much, there is a time jump about ten years into the future and we get to see what has ultimately become of all the characters. The future is happier for some more than it is others, but all the characters have progressed in ways that are believable extensions of the characters we meet at the beginning of the film.

I can’t praise the cinematography of the film enough. One standout in particular is the early morning Kol and Adam spend on a hill contemplating their small town and their own futures. The sky is a dreamy shade of blue as a hint of yellow begins to peek over the horizon. The town below is blurred as our two leads are brought into sharp focus, reminding us that this is one of the last moments the two have together.  The scene is silent, but so much of the longing and the beauty of the connection that had been formed is on display.

Of An Age is a beautifully made, heart wrenching, queer romantic drama about the transformative impact of first love and how it can open our eyes to what we truly deserve.

Of An Age is now playing in theaters courtesy of Focus Features. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtfkhimcnLY]