Film review: Blue Jean is a gripping account of a woman coming to terms with being gay

Blue Jean is written and directed by Georgia Oakley.

Set in Newcastle in the 1980s, Blue Jean (15A) stars Rosy McEwen as Jean, a PE teacher popular with staff and pupils at her local comprehensive.

Whether Jean would be as respected if people knew she was a lesbian is what drives Jean to lead a secret life, where she’s happy in her relationship with Viv (Kerrie Hayes) — until, that is, new pupil Lois (Lucy Halliday) walks into the gay bar where Jean is playing pool. Fascinated by Jean, Lois refuses to accept that Jean must “create boundaries as a teacher”, not least because Margaret Thatcher’s government is pushing through the infamous Section 28, legislation prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities.

Written and directed by Georgia Oakley, Blue Jean is a gripping account of a woman belatedly coming to terms with the myriad pressures of being gay in an explicitly homophobic society, even if Oakley’s script is brilliantly understated, and refuses to substitute polemic for character development.

Rosy McEwen and Kerrie Hayes have a wonderfully believable chemistry in the lead roles, while Lucy Halliday quietly steals every scene she’s in as the doe-eyed provocatrice.

(cinema release)