Weekend

Weekend is a 2011 British romantic drama film directed by Andrew Haigh and starring Tom Cullen and Chris New as two men who meet and begin a sexual relationship the weekend before one of them plans to leave the country. The film won much praise and critical acclaim after premiering at the SXSW festival in the US, and was a success at the box office in the UK and the U.S., where it received a limited release. Plot On a Friday night in Nottingham, Russell attends a house party. He assures best friend Jamie that he will be there on Sunday for Jamie's daughter's birthday. Russell leaves early, deciding to go to a gay club for a hookup. He meets Glen, an art student, and they have sex at Russell's apartment. The next morning, Glen coaxes Russell to speak into a voice recorder about the previous night, for an art project. The more reserved Russell is taken aback by Glen's blunt discussion of sex. After Russell finishes, they exchange numbers before Glen leaves. Russell writes about Glen on his laptop, something he does after each of his encounters. Russell spends a lonely morning working as a lifeguard. He texts Glen, who agrees to meet. The two learn about each other, and share a bicycle ride back to Russell's flat, where they continue discovering more about each other's pasts. Glen explains that his art project seeks to explore the gap between who people are and who they want to be, as demonstrated by the personas they assume when hooking up with someone for the first time. Russell reveals that he never came out to his parents because he does not know who they are; he grew up in foster homes with Jamie. Before leaving, Glen discloses that he is moving to Oregon the next day to attend a two-year art course. On a whim, Glen invites Russell to his goodbye party at a straight bar that night, and Russell decides to attend. While Glen gets into an argument about heteronormativity with the bar owner, Russell chats with Jill, Glen's flatmate. She tells Russell that she never got to listen to his recording; Glen let her listen to all of his others. She then tells Russell that she and her friends do not expect Glen to travel to America, to the point that they started a bet. She also discloses that Glen was in a relationship with someone named John, who cheated on Glen repeatedly and was attacked at a park shortly before the relationship ended. Since then, Glen has said he "doesn't do boyfriends."