Beach rats: The harsh glare of life as a troubled teen
BEACH RATS, a film that centres around an aimless teenager who has hang ups about his sexuality, will open the fifth edition of IndieCork (October 8-15). Written and directed by New Yorker, Eliza Hittman, the film, which won best director (dramatic) at the Sundance Film Festival this year, is inspired by the South Brooklyn working–class neighbourhoods and the borough’s coastal communities where the character of Frankie gravitates with his delinquent friends.
Frankie is keen to escape the bleakness of his home life where his father is dying of cancer. He uses the basement of hi s family’s home to surf gay dating sites and take part in webcams. As the webcam sessions intensify, he starts hooking up with guys at a nearby cruising beach while simultaneously entering into a tentative relationship with a young woman.
