#benjamin 2018

Stephen, Benjamin

CW: This film includes references to suicide.

This is a nice, deeply awkward indie romance. A little slow-moving at times, and it consumes its body weight in cringe humor, but I liked it. It’s another film where Joel Fry takes on the best friend/sidekick role, and I enjoy what he does here with it.

The movie is about a filmmaker who meets a gorgeous young musician while he's obsessing over the long-awaited follow-up to his award-winning debut. Benjamin is immediately bowled over by Noah but struggles to make their relationship work because of his issues with emotional intimacy.

In some ways, Benjamin wears his heart on his sleeve, because he holds almost nothing back. He frequently says whatever is on his mind, bringing a real “inability to read the room and stop talking” vibe to the function that makes people uncomfortable. But because of that, it’s all the more frustrating for his romantic partners when they hit a wall with him. Sex is good, and he can just about wrap his head around awkward flirting, but real intimacy is a challenge for him. I never watched Merlin, and my exposure to Colin Morgan is still relatively limited, but I like him here as Benjamin. He nails that anxious tone, full of self-deprecation to deflect from his insecurities. He’s funny, sweet, and frustrating—for everyone, including himself.

Stephen, Benjamin's closest friend, is entirely as socially awkward as Benjamin but in somewhat different ways. Stephen is less of a nervous motormouth but still frequently says the wrong thing. He comes with Benjamin to a party but balks at going inside, then later tries to back out of accompanying Benjamin to meet Noah, insisting, “I’ll hold the fort.”

As I said, Joel Fry has filled this sort of slot in numerous projects, playing the friend or the sidekick. But even if it’s something of a typecast for him, none of these best-friend roles look the same. Stephen is very different from, say, Rocky in Yesterday or Bryan in Love Wedding Repeat. I love that he’s not the goofy friend to the perpetually-overthinking Benjamin, and that he’s not the cool/socially-adept Black friend to the cutely awkward white protagonist. Rather, both of them are awkward and anxious with an edge of sadness to them, and they sort of fumble along together. And given the trope of the gay bestie in romantic movies, I also like that Stephen is the straight best friend to the gay lead.

Stephen is there to support Benjamin, of course, and we get plenty of that. After Benjamin scores an invitation to have dinner with Noah and his bandmates, we get this cute exchange between them:

STEPHEN: “You did it.” 

BENJAMIN: “I just kept saying the world ‘dumplings.’” 

STEPHEN: (encouragingly) “Well, that’s how you get dumplings!”