Once a Year on Blackpool Sands

10/21/2023

If only this had had a more focussed auteur then it could have made for a far more potent tale of growing up gay in England in the 1950s. Instead, Karlton Parris rather misses his open goal and provides us with a meandering film that largely underwhelms. That said, there are two strong performances here from Kyle Brookes ("Eddy") and Macauley Cooper's "Tommy" as we relive a story told by way of a retrospective of their forbidden love. The pair have been friends since they were nippers and have been having a clandestine relationship, the odd shag in the pigeon shed, for a while before they embark on their family's annual holiday to the coast - and Blackpool. Homosexuality is still very much illegal - and frowned upon - in Britain and before they travel we, but not "Tommy", know that "Eddy"