The Blue Hour (2015)

directed by Anucha Boonyawatana
Thailand
97 minutes
4 stars out of 5
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There's something about the very first scene of this movie that's really affecting and does an excellent job of setting the tone without using words- the main character coming to after a fight with some bullies, cleaning himself up, and immediately putting his earring back in. That willingness to continue expressing yourself even after you've been physically hurt is such a strong image.

This movie drew me in on the promise of two things: A gay love story rendered in the style of Thai contemplative cinema, and something about a haunted swimming pool. I was really fascinated with the swimming pool because it's such a textbook example of a liminal space, which makes it a perfect setting for the romance and also a powerful statement about the experience of being gay in an intolerant environment. That the liminal space of the swimming pool is where the two characters are forced to meet up, that they have to remain sequestered in this unsettling, dark place where no one else wants to go instead of being able to be open in each other's houses or outside. Some of the film takes place in a garbage dump that serves as a similar liminal space, except the garbage dump represents a negative force where- I feel- the swimming pool was mostly neutral.

As with many Thai films, watching The Blue Hour is an immersive experience that makes you forget about time and your own environment and draws you into the scenery and setting onscreen. I'm sure that there are Thai films out there that bear no resemblance to the country's most famous director of slow cinema, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, but either his legacy spawned basically a new standard for the country's cinema, or there's something ingrained within the process of shooting a film in Thailand itself that makes gives them this hazy, summery, almost underwater quality of serenity to them. Not even necessarily "serenity", since that word feels reductive, but a stillness, a patience. The ability to let a story tell itself through gestures and acts rather than dialogue.

The thing about The Blue Hour that could be off-putting to some people is that about halfway through, it very abruptly becomes a horror film. The swimming pool was creepy from the start, but past a certain point it's impossible to see it as having been a metaphor or a little urban legend to flesh out the background of the story. This swimming pool is deeply, deeply haunted, and it permeates the characters' lives to such an extent that the whole atmosphere of the film takes on a sinister undertone that I absolutely loved. The first half, with the love story, is beautiful and gorgeous and a thing to heal the soul if you're like me and are unsatisfied with how many gay romances on film end in tragedy. But the second half takes this into becoming something existentially terrifying, a reflection of the uncertainty of loving someone and your own feelings about the people around you.

I can't say I understood every minute of this but I was happy to go along with the ride and admire the scenery. There's so much in this that we don't get to see in movies about gay teens. Specifically, resilience and triumph over self-doubt, absolute knowledge that being true to yourself is the way to prevail over those who seek to harm you. And the world's most ominous swimming pool, and possibly supernatural algae. It's just so good. This might be one of my favorites I've seen this year thus far.