Layers of interest ripple through these people, allowing the actors to underlying feelings. Edgar-Jones gives Muriel a driving sense of purpose, even as her actions are ostensibly forbidden. She's surprised how adept she is at both gambling and deception. She creates honest, magnetic connections with Poulter, Calle and Elordi, who exudes free-spirited, cool charisma as a man trying to escape who he is. His chemistry with the focussed Calva is both electric and intriguingly shaded.

Because much of this story takes place in private, there's a powerful sense of the freedom that only exists outside society's gaze. So it becomes an extraordinary exploration of people trying to find what's real in their lives. And there are knowing comments about gambling ("If you think too much about luck, it starts to own you") and the fatalism usually seen in movies about homosexuality in repressed periods ("We're all just a hare's breath from losing everything"). These reveal where this might be heading, as well as grim truths people still face today.

themes, language, sexuality

13.Aug.25

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