A Night Like This by Liam Calvert, UK, 2025 - Int'l Lovers Film Festival (Torino, Italy 10-17 April 2025)
- Planet Claire
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
A Night Like This by Liam Calvert, UK, 2025
runtime: 97 minutes
International Feature Competition
directed by Liam Calvert
written and produced by Diego Scerrati
cast:
Alexander Lincoln as Oliver
Jack Brett Anderson as Lukas
Jimmy Ericson as Daniel, the native Scouser from Liverpool
David Bradley as John, the owner of a rundown Folk Club
Beth Rylance as Emma, the witty daughter of the Folk Club owner
This independent film premiered at the BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, one of the largest queer film festivals in Europe, before screening at the Lovers Film Festival in Turin, Italy.
The debut feature from 27-year-old London director Liam Calvert tells the story of two young men who, on a winter’s night in London, meet by chance, drawn together by a shared sense of loss and loneliness. Over the course of just a few hours, through intense dialogue and moments of fragile intimacy, they form a deep emotional bond neither of them expected. And thus—they are saved.
The film embraces a theatrical style of writing, filled with meaningful, layered dialogue. The screenwriter has crafted a literate and intellectually rich script in collaboration with the director, not shying away from complex concepts or elevated language. For instance, the term apophenia —borrowed from psychoanalysis— makes an appearance, referring to the cognitive tendency to perceive connections, meanings, or patterns in random data or stimuli that are not logically related.
The two protagonists talk at length —indeed, for the entire night— engaging in at times sparkling conversation about the 'meaning of it all'.
The understated direction and the nocturnal setting of the beloved city of London provide the backdrop for a gradually compelling narrative that ultimately finds hope in the possibility of rebirth from despair.
There are moments of humour too, as British wit subtly seeps through even in the darkest parts of the story.
Lukas is a young German immigrant and aspiring actor, unhappily working as a waiter in a café. He’s introverted, kind, and burdened by a traumatic abuse he doesn’t know how to escape, and is now pushed to the brink of despair.
Oliver, on the other hand, is a London entrepreneur from a wealthy but deeply dysfunctional family. A struggling folk singer-songwriter, a genre which finds little popularity in contemporary times. Outwardly confident and charismatic, he too hides a profound restlessness and a paralysing sense of inadequacy.
As the night unfolds, Lukas and Oliver wander through the city, listening, confiding, and trying to make sense of the pain they share, while also navigating their underlying attraction to one another.
Their emotional wounds slowly surface, never overstated, hinted at rather than fully disclosed.
A third male character appears: Danny, a runaway teenager from Liverpool. Initially adrift, he proves to be a surprisingly sensitive and intelligent young man.
The three visit a rundown folk club where Oliver performs Take Me Home, Country Roads, the iconic and evocative 1971 ballad by John Denver.
What begins as a chance encounter between Lukas and Oliver slowly blossoms —before the fateful morning— into a tender queer bro-mance, marked by hesitant steps and small acts of emotional courage. The authors' message is hope should never be abandoned, because if we refuse to give in to despair, life may yet surprise us.
Liam Calvert’s film reminds us that, even when all seems lost, one night —and one person—can be enough to reignite a spark. A sincere and moving debut.
The feature will make the rounds on the festival circuit, and hopefully it will find a wider release.
Clara Bruno
Planet Claire web magazine
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