Reach (2018)

It’s not often you get one of these dysfunctional family dramas that focusses solely on it’s male characters, but this one does and despite some often quite pedestrian dialogue, I thought that both Garrett Clayton (“Steven”) and Johnny James Fiore (“Clarence”) turned in decent efforts. The formula is fairly standard, even a little confused at times, as we discover that “Steven” lives with his dad and both are struggling to come to terms with the loss of his mum. He has already selected a solution from the pill bottle but then a new lad starts at their school. “Clarence” is an enigmatic character who steps into to prevent a bit of bullying at the hands of “Nick” (Jordan Doww) and is soon his new best pal. The newbie has moved to live with his grandparents after he lost his own parents in a road accident. What’s clear is neither have any idea how to progress their lives, and so with the aid of some weed and each other’s company perhaps progress can be made? “Nick”, meantime, has a bit of a sub-plot as his mum also did a bunk leaving him with an alcoholic father who is unimpressed with his sexuality. As the story develops, the threads incorporate a bit of musical theatre as a conduit to a conclusion that satisfies nobody - including us. Now no, there isn’t really much to recommend this as a film, but what I felt it did do was showcase just how men, young and old, struggle to seek or find help or admit when they have problems. Denial, drink and/or drugs are all to readily available to soften the impact of tragedy and trauma, and people around are often usually content to mind their own business allowing the situation to fester. The gay storyline isn’t prominent, this is much more a story about the men learning to trust, even live, again and if you can look past some of the low-budget production and writing, it’s worth a look.