ON THE SEA
HELEN WALSH | UNITED KINGDOM | 2025 | 111 MIN | ENGLISH
HELEN WALSH | UNITED KINGDOM | 2025 | 111 MIN | ENGLISH
Synopsis
In a windswept Welsh village, where anonymity is an impossibility, Jack prizes practicalities: raking mussel beds to provide for his wife and wayward son. A cancer survivor, stability is his North Star. But he is unsteadied by a younger, freer itinerant worker willing to fight for what—and who—he loves. Jack’s brother typifies the expected path: a harsh but devoted family man who heeds capitalistic forces to flourish. But when a grizzled fisherman is cruelly pushed into frigid waters and rescued by his deckhand, Jack (Barry Ward) meets Daniel (Lorne MacFadyen), who represents an alternative. Though, as Daniel notes, they’ve eyed each other before. At first wary and filled with “the same stars wherever you go” cynicism, Jack shows begrudging admiration for Daniel’s pursuit of self-determination. And is willing, perhaps, to seek a place on open waters just for them. Stirringly scored, On the Sea plunges us into perpetually fogged seascapes. Its lensing restrained yet restless, like Jack himself. As Jack and Daniel cross paths in punches and unearthed passions, writer-director Helen Walsh trains her novelist’s eye on subtleties, lightly dredging up backstories until they cloud the characters’ increasingly desperate presents.
Trailer
Filmmaker Bio
Helen Walsh is a British novelist, screenwriter and director born in Warrington. She first gained recognition as a writer with Brass (2004), winner of the Betty Trask Award, followed by Once Upon a Time in England, which received the Somerset Maugham Award. She made her feature directorial debut with The Violators (2016) and was named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit the same year. She later created and wrote the Channel 4 drama series The Gathering (2024). On the Sea is her second feature film as writer-director.
Director's Statement
Helen Walsh drew On the Sea from the experience of a man she knew who came out in his forties and was cut off from his family, friends and community. She wanted to explore how a closeted man might exist within a small, insular environment where masculinity is closely tied to physical resilience, stoicism, tradition and heterosexual marriage. Walsh was also interested in the consequences of living in fear and avoiding certain paths. For her, the film ultimately affirms that love and compassion can offer a way through fear and change.
Producer
David A Hughes, David Moores
Writer
Helen Walsh
Cast
- Barry Ward
- Lorne MacFadyen
- Liz White
- Henry Lawfull
- Celyn Jones
- Danny Webb
