Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor unite for a sombre, luminous period love story between WWI-era musicologists.

In 1917, New England music students Lionel and David find a deep, instant connection after bonding over folk music, but are just as quickly parted by war and family obligations.

Two years later, they are able to bond again on a song-collecting trip across the woodlands of Maine – but wider circumstances and inner anxieties will make staying together a challenge. Director Oliver Hermanus (Beauty, Living) adapts two acclaimed short stories by screenwriter Ben Shattuck, making a slow, tender, and beautifully textured gay romance.

A wealth of distinct, underexplored scenes and songs across the film harmonise with the perfectly measured lead performances: beneath the solemn period stylings, Mescal and O’Connor indicate huge depths of feeling, making for an exceptional cinematic romance.