God's Own Country (2017 film)

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In Yorkshire, Johnny lives on the family farm with his father, Martin, and grandmother, Deirdre. Because his father had suffered a stroke and because of his grandmother's age, much of the day-to-day running of the farm falls to Johnny. In his free time, Johnny engages in binge drinking and furtive sexual encounters with other men. Returning late to the farm after such an encounter with a young auctioneer, he is berated by his father because a calf has nearly died from a breech birth in his absence. Johnny proposes to call a veterinarian, but Martin has him shoot the still alive calf instead.

Gheorghe, a Romanian migrant worker, is hired as extra help for the lambing season. He arrives and spends his first night in a caravan that the family has organised as his accommodation. As the ewes have moved away from the main part of the farm, and as part of the farm's boundary wall remains unrepaired by Johnny, it is decided that Johnny and Gheorghe should spend several days camping nearer to the animals. Gheorghe quietly disapproves of the old fashioned way the farm is run, without proper veterinary care or even antiseptics for wounded or sick animals. When one of the ewes gives birth to an unconscious runt, Johnny following on his father's way of running the farm is about to let it die, but is intrigued when Gheorghe is able to resuscitate and care for it instead. One morning, after Johnny refers to Gheorghe yet again as a "gypsy", Gheorghe tackles him to the ground and warns Johnny not to speak that way to him again.

The next day, the two men again engage in a fight which results in Johnny performing fellatio on Gheorghe and the two men have rough and passionate sex in the dirt. While Johnny initially does not acknowledge the encounter, the two share cigarettes and a sugar packet^[5] for their cup noodles throughout the day. That night, Gheorghe resists Johnny's aggressive move to have sex, instead patiently showing him that sex can also be tender, and the two men kiss for the first time.

Returning to the farm, Johnny invites Gheorghe to stay with him in the house, but Gheorghe elects to remain in the caravan. When Martin suffers a second stroke, Johnny realises that running the farm is now entirely his responsibility, and he asks Gheorghe to stay on with him. Gheorghe responds that experience has taught him they can't maintain the farm the way it's currently run, stressing it would be a serious professional and personal commitment. Johnny reacts poorly, drinking to excess and engaging in another random sexual encounter. When Gheorghe realises what Johnny has done, he abruptly leaves the farm.

Martin is released from the hospital but is now fully debilitated. Johnny, desperate to make up with Gheorghe, tells his father that he will stay to run the farm, but that things must be run on his terms. Martin gives his tacit approval to Johnny, who sets off to bring Gheorghe back to the farm. After he finds Gheorghe working in Scotland, the two men reconcile. Gheorghe returns with Johnny; the caravan is taken away, and Gheorghe moves into the house.^[6][7]

• Josh O'Connor as Johnny Saxby
• Alec Secăreanu as Gheorghe Ionescu
• Gemma Jones as Deirdre Saxby, Johnny's grandmother and Martin's mother
• Ian Hart as Martin Saxby, John's father and Deirdre's son

Also Harry Lister Smith, Melanie Kilburn, Liam Thomas, Patsy Ferran, Moey Hassan, Naveed Choudhry, Sarah White and John McCrea in supporting roles.

The film is partly based on writer and director Francis Lee's own life, where he also had to make a decision to either stay and work on his family's farm or go off to drama school.^[8]

The film was shot in Yorkshire, specifically around the Silsden area of Keighley in West Yorkshire,^[6] with some other scenes being shot in Keighley Bus Station^[9] and Airedale General Hospital with Haworth and Otley also featuring as backdrops for the film.^[9]

The production was financed in part through the British Film Council's iFeature programme with additional funding being secured from Creative England.^[7]

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2017. It was the only production from the United Kingdom that featured in the world drama category in the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.^[2][10] It went onto screen at the Berlin International Film Festival on 11 February 2017.^[11][12]

Shortly after, Picturehouse Entertainment, Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired UK and US distribution rights respectively.^[13][14] It was released in the United Kingdom on 1 September 2017.^[15] The film was banned in Malaysia, China and some Arab countries due to explicit sex scenes between the two men.^[16] Likewise, Romania was the only country in Eastern Europe where the film was screened.^[16]

God's Own Country was released on DVD on 30 January 2018.^[17]

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Box office

As of 8 March 2018^[update], God's Own Country has grossed a worldwide total of $2.6 million, which includes $1.2 million in the United Kingdom.^[3][4]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 131 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "A quiet, moving rumination on loneliness and newfound intimacy, God's Own Country marks an outstanding directorial debut for Francis Lee."^[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[19]

The Sundance Film Festival's listing for God's Own Country says that "you can smell the mud in this movie" while also describing Francis Lee as a major new talent and the film as "one not to be missed."^[1] Peter Bradshaw, writing in The Guardian, gave the film four stars out of five. Bradshaw described the film as "an almost, but not quite a Dales Brokeback," and also as a "very British love story, bursting at the seams with unspoken emotions, unvoiced fears about the future, and a readiness to displace every emotion into hard physical work".^[20]

At the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival the film received the Harvey Award, presented by the Teddy Awards programme for LGBT-related films in conjunction with a reader jury from the German LGBT magazine Männer.^[21]

Ed Potton, writing in The Times, gave the film four stars out of five and described the film as "splendid" and "[a] potent film, a Yorkshire Brokeback Mountain".^[22]

Accolades

More information Award, Date of ceremony ...

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
Australian Film Critics Association	13 March 2018	Best International Film (English Language)	God's Own Country	Nominated	[23]
Berlin International Film Festival	18 February 2017	Männer Jury Award	God's Own Country	Won	[21] [24]
		Teddy Award	God's Own Country	Nominated
British Academy Film Awards	18 February 2018	Outstanding British Film	God's Own Country	Nominated	[25]
		Rising Star Award	Josh O'Connor	Nominated
British Independent Film Awards	10 December 2017	Douglas Hickox Award	Francis Lee	Nominated	[26] [27]
		Best British Independent Film	God's Own Country	Won
		Best Director	Francis Lee	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Francis Lee	Nominated
		Best Actor	Josh O'Connor	Won
			Alec Secăreanu	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Ian Hart	Nominated
		Best Debut Screenwriter	Francis Lee	Won
		Breakthrough Producer	Jack Tarling	Nominated
			Manon Ardisson	Nominated
		Best Casting	Shaheen Baig	Nominated
			Layla Merrick-Wolf	Nominated
		Best Sound	Anna Bertmark	Won
Chicago International Film Festival	26 October 2017	Silver Q-Hugo	God's Own Country	Won	[28]
Chéries-Chéris	21 November 2017	Grand Prize	God's Own Country	Nominated	[29]
Dinard British Film Festival	1 October 2017	Golden Hitchcock	God's Own Country	Won	[30] [31]
		Heartbeat Hitchcock	God's Own Country	Won
Dorian Awards	31 January 2018	LGBTQ Film of the Year	God's Own Country	Nominated	[32]
		Unsung Film of the Year	God's Own Country	Won
Edinburgh International Film Festival	20 June 2017	The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film	Francis Lee	Won	[33] [34]
Empire Awards	18 March 2018	Best British Film	God's Own Country	Won	[35] [36]
		Best Male Newcomer	Josh O'Connor	Won
		Best Screenplay	Francis Lee	Nominated
Evening Standard British Film Awards	8 February 2018	Best Film	God's Own Country	Won	[37]
		Best Supporting Actor	Ian Hart	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Gemma Jones	Won
		Breakthrough of the Year	Francis Lee	Nominated
			Josh O'Connor	Nominated
Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival	27 June 2017	AT&T Audience Award	God's Own Country	Won	[38]
Galway Film Fleadh	5 September 2017	Best International First Feature	God's Own Country	Won	[39]
Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival	19 August 2017	Best Feature	God's Own Country	Won	[40] [41]
Jameson CineFest–Miskolc International Film Festival	17 September 2017	Emeric Pressburger Prize	God's Own Country	Nominated	[42]
London Film Critics' Circle	28 January 2018	Film of the Year	God's Own Country	Nominated	[43]
		British/Irish Film of the Year	God's Own Country	Nominated
		British/Irish Actor of the Year	Josh O'Connor	Nominated
		Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker	Francis Lee	Won
		Technical Achievement Award	Joshua James Richards	Nominated
San Francisco International Film Festival	19 April 2017	Golden Gate Award	God's Own Country	Nominated	[44]
Satellite Awards	10 February 2018	Best Film	God's Own Country	Won[a]	[45]
Stockholm International Film Festival	20 November 2017	Best Direction	Francis Lee	Won	[46]
		Best Male Actor	Josh O'Connor	Won
		Bronze Horse	God's Own Country	Nominated
Sundance Film Festival	28 January 2017	World Cinema Directing Award	Francis Lee	Won	[47] [48] [49]
		Grand Jury Prize	Francis Lee	Nominated
Sydney Film Festival	18 June 2017	Foxtel Movies Audience Award	God's Own Country	7th place	[50]
Toronto Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival	4 June 2017	Bill Sherwood Award	God's Own Country	Won	[51] [52]
Transilvania International Film Festival	11 June 2017	Special Jury Award	God's Own Country	Won	[53]
		Transilvania Trophy	God's Own Country	Nominated
Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards	15 January 2018	Best First Screenplay	Francis Lee	Nominated	[54]
Zagreb Film Festival	18 November 2017	The Golden Pram	God's Own Country	Nominated	[55]

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