Blue Jean

Composite Score: 83.5

Starring: Rosy McEwan, Kerrie Hayes, Lucy Halliday, Lydia Page, Stacy Abalogun, Amy Booth-Steele, Aoife Kennan, Scott Turnbull, Farrah Cave, Lainey Shaw, Izzy Neish, and Becky Lindsay

Director: Georgia Oakley

Writer: Georgia Oakley

Genres: Crime, Drama, History, LGBTQ+

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Box Office: $741,644 worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Blue Jean is Georgia Oakley’s directorial debut about a closeted lesbian teacher living in the UK in the 1980s whose life becomes increasingly complicated when one of her students discovers her secret. The film stars Rosy McEwan as the titular Jean Newman, joined by Kerrie Hayes as her girlfriend Viv, Lucy Halliday as her student Lois, and Lydia Page as her other student Siobhan. The film’s critique of Thatcher-era homophobia, specifically the controversial Section 28 legislation, permeates the background in some excellent environmental storytelling. This, coupled with the film’s examination of Jean’s own grappling with her sexuality and self-acceptance, makes for a rich examination of both the collective and individual aspects of LGBTQ+ culture, specifically from a lesbian perspective. Though it flew mostly under the radar, it did garner a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer for both Georgia Oakley and her producer Hélène Sifre.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                Blue Jean is definitely an indie film, and its story reflects that indie tendency to pack its third act with lots of vibes and very little clear resolution to its conflicts, choosing to leave things open-ended so the audience leaves pondering the story. The interpersonal stories of Jean’s relationships with her sister, with Viv, with Lois, and with Siobhan are all left with virtually no resolution and even very little catharsis. The only real resolution we’re given is of Jean’s own internal struggles, which comes in the film’s best scene, but it’s still a bit frustrating that we don’t even really get a hint at how things might be going between Jean and the many women in her life. I guess it’s not supposed to matter because she’s finally embraced her own homosexuality and come out to a straight person, but I was still just a little underwhelmed with where we were left, given the incredible quality of the rest of the film.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                Between the constant reminders of the societal pressure that Jean faces at every turn – from radio broadcasts, television episodes, and even conversations with her sister and with Viv – and the brilliant acting that McEwan, Hayes, and Halliday bring to the film, Georgia Oakley has given us an impressive first outing that deserves to be seen by many. Every character has depth and realism, refusing to be painted as a caricature or stereotype; every scene is full of subtext and character development, and nothing feels out of place or superfluous.

                Kerrie Hayes portrays Viv on the surface as a typical “butch” lesbian, but her depth of experience and character are brought out more and more as the plot progresses, allowing her to play more than just the hard exterior that her character could so easily have been made into, culminating in a heart-wrenching scene between her and Jean at a diner. Likewise, Lucy Halliday offers an impressive supporting performance as Jean’s student Lois, who is very much on the road to discovering and exploring her own sexuality. Her ability to communicate so much with her eyes and body language makes each scene that she shares with the other characters so much weightier because she lets you feel what she’s feeling, especially in her early scenes at the lesbian bar where her desire for connection and acceptance are constantly felt even without her having to say anything, which just compounds the nightmare scenario for Jean because, like the audience, she can feel it, but she’s also experiencing the terrible ordeal of being a teacher encountering a student in public on top of being potentially outed as a lesbian to her conservative and traditional coworkers. Finally, though, McEwan herself gives the performance of performances in this film, playing Jean with all the authenticity that the character requires. Her expressive capabilities allow the audience to feel every pang of guilt and rush of fear and tug of longing that Jean does, keeping us fully invested in every scene of the film as she comes to accept herself.

                The three brilliant central performances of Blue Jean help make Georgia Oakley’s rookie outing a smashing success in conjunction with her own intentional storytelling choices and characterizations of her cast, earning the film a place among the Greatest Films of All Time. The lack of clear story resolutions can potentially be frustrating for viewers, but the character work and creative decisions that the film makes definitely make it worth checking out. You can currently stream this film on Hulu if you’d like to see it for yourself in the near future.