A timid scientist (Robert Pollock) is obsessed with the end of the world. He’s courted by a charismatic thief (Iain Rea) who lives in the here and now. Queer cinema was in a dark place in the 1980’s. The AIDS epidemic was decimating the community and our media reflected that. Beyond Gravity is a rare exception.
Director/Writer Garth Maxwell, and his co-writer Graham Adams, made the film in New Zealand. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 1989. It’s nice to find a happy m/m story made before the gay romcom movement of the late 90’s.
Here is a spoiler filled recap. Unfortunately, the film requires a content warning for a transphobic moment and a scene of violence.
A Trip to the Library
Scene One: A Library in Auckland
RICHARD (an anxious lab technician): I’ll take 20 books about the sun.
LIBRARIAN: Your card is expired.
JOHNNY (a brash Italian): I’ll check them out for him.
LIBRARIAN: Your card says Lorrainne Jones.
JOHNNY: That’s me. (Starts to unbutton his shirt. She checks out the books.)
RICHARD: Thanks. But that was transphobic.
JOHNNY: I’m sorry. I was aiming for playful and mischievous.
Scene Two: Richard’s Apartment
JOHNNY (Throws fruit at the window.): You dropped your diary. I underlined the best bits. Why are you such a mess?
RICHARD: The earth’s about to crash into the sun! We only have 5 billion years left! It gives me ANXIETY!
JOHNNY: We should date.
Scene Three: A Beach House
JOHNNY: I fly back to Italy in three weeks. We have to accelerate this relationship.
(Johnny breaks the window with a brick and lets them in the beach house. They have sex. Then sunbathe nude on the beach.)
JOHNNY: This has only been legal here for three years. We’re pioneers.
Scene Four: Second Date
JOHNNY: I’m taking you to a party. Wear this. (Tosses Richard a leather jacket.)
RICHARD: It’s beautiful. But I can’t go. I have ANXIETY!
JOHNNY: I noticed. Let’s have sex again. (They do. Johnny smokes a cigarette.)
RICHARD: Smoking in bed? The 80’s were wild.
Scene Five: A Robbery
STREET TOUGH: That’s my jacket! Get him boys!
(Street toughs beat up Richard and take the jacket.)
SISTER: You’re bleeding! Let me clean your face.
SISTER’s BOYFRIEND: Keep his gay AIDS blood away from me!
RICHARD: I can cross that off my 80’s film Bingo card.
Scene Six: Planetarium
JOHNNY: I’m sorry! Your sister told me what happened.
RICHARD: WHY DID YOU STEAL?
JOHNNY: I’m a manic pixie dream boy. Rules don’t apply to me!
RICHARD: You’re disgusting.
JOHNNY: And you walk around like a wounded animal waiting for the sky to fall!
RICHARD: The movie’s nearly over so we have to make up fast. Let’s get naked again.
JOHNNY: Fine! This film knows its audience.
Scene Seven: Johnny’s Apartment
RICHARD: We had too much sex. You’ll miss your flight!
JOHNNY: (Calls the airport.) There’s a bomb on the plane. Delay the flight till I get there!
(Johnny leaves. Richard cries. Johnny returns.)
JOHNNY: I missed the plane! We didn’t have the budget for a race to the airport.
(They dance on the rooftop.)
RICHARD: I’m not afraid of the sky anymore.
THE END
Kiwi Representation
The ingredients of a romcom are there. Polar opposites. Meet cute. Dating montages. A second act breakup. A missed flight. There aren’t many jokes but the film finds humor in Richard’s neurosis and Johnny’s extreme behavior. There is also eye candy. New Zealand decriminalized male/male sexual activity in 1986. Beyond Gravity celebrates this with tastefully filmed intimate scenes.
The 48-minute run time has it listed as a feature on imdb and a short elsewhere. It was the film debut for most of the artists involved. Richard’s actor, Robert Pollock, would play a “Featured Orc” in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and a “Mordor Orc” in The Return of the King.
If not for the transphobic opener I’d recommend Beyond Gravity as a forgotten gem.
You can find more of my reviews on The Avocado, Letterboxd and Serializd. My podcast, Rainbow Colored Glasses, can be found here.