On the Sea (2025) review

Director: Helen Walsh 111 minutes

Hello cinema lovers. Director Helen Walsh's second feature is a slow film that earns its pace. Set against the grey, wet north coast of Wales, On the Sea follows Jack (Barry Ward), a handsome middle-aged mussel farmer.

He lives in a world ruled by limited choices. The story of how he confronts his true identity late in life is shown beautifully but painfully. That is the film's heart.

Ward (Dating Amber, Jimmy's Hall) is a powerful Irish actor. He uses stillness well, letting Jack's loneliness register through his eyes rather than speaking. Jack's life has settled into a never ending grind. Freezing early mornings, a failing partnership with his brother, a son he's pushing towards a business the boy wants no part of.

Walsh, who wrote several novels before directing, is interested in showing a worldview before she tells a story. The opening act does this very well. The cinematography is all greys and blues. When colour enters the film its alongside the shift in Jack's life as he starts to find happiness.

That change is brought on by Daniel (Lorne MacFadyen), a brooding, sexy fisherman who drifts between jobs and carries none of Jack's luggage. Daniel's sexuality is not stated directly, but it isn't hidden either.

MacFadyen (Vigil, Grantchester) plays Dan with an open ease that contrasts sharply with Jack's uptight nature. The dynamic between the two men doesn't require much spelling out, and the chemistry between the two leads is clear from their first scenes together.

The sex scenes are intense but realistic, more frenzied than romantic, which is absolutely the right choice. These are two men working through something new and scary between them.

What Walsh captures is what late coming-out actually costs. Jack's decisions take a toll. "My marriage isn't a lie," Jack tells Daniel, and Ward says it as someone who means it but knows it isn't enough. That's the film at its best, holding two truths up at once without judgement.

The third act is where the film becomes less successful. Walsh begins wrapping up storylines that were more interesting left open. Plot takes over from mood. Jack's standing in his town changes radically, and these scenes are handled nicely. But the film starts to feel like it's running towards its finish. The ending is incredibly moving, but also too tidy.

There are also problems with some of the film's pacing and subplots. The brothers' disputes, the son's resentments. They take up room that should be devoted to Jack and Daniel. The relationship between the two men is the film's soul, and it needed more screen time. The scenes we do get are good; Ward and MacFadyen have chemistry. Their exchanges are powerful. There simply aren't enough of them.

On the Sea sits in the same tradition as God's Own Country (2017) and Brokeback Mountain (2005) both are working-class, windswept, grounded dramas interested in where queer love flourishes in the face of obstacles. This story doesn't quite match those film's heights, but it's a strong movie with excellent actors that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath.

On the Sea premiered in competition at the 2025 Edinburgh International Film Festival and The 2026 BFI Flare LGBTQIA+ Festival. A UK Release date is imminent