Blue Jean
2022
***½
Director: Georgia Oakley
Cast: Rosy McEwen, Kerrie Hayes, Lucy Halliday, Lydia Page, Stacy Abalogun, Amy Booth-Steele, Aoife Kennan, Scott Turnbull, Farrah Cave, Lainey Shaw, Izzy Neish, Becky Lindsay
In 1983, Margaret Thatcher's government introduced Section 28, which prohibited the promotion of homosexuality. In the late 1980s, Jean, a closeted PE teacher at a Tyneside school in Newcastle, feels compelled to live a lie. Georgia Oakley's directorial debut sheds light on a dark period in British history. I might be tempted to ask why we must dwell on the depressing past when the present is thankfully much brighter. Nevertheless, Oakley's film tells a moving personal story and captures a grim slice of history. Rosy McEwen gives a very fine lead performance.
