‘Of An Age’ Illustrates The Lifechanging Importance Of A Chance Encounter Through The Queer Perspective
Courtesy of Focus Features.
*This Feature contains spoilers*
Since opening in US theaters on February 17, Of An Age has garnered critical affection for its emotional and relatable portrait of the queer coming-of-age experience. Directed by Macedonian-Australian filmmaker Goran Stolevski, Of An Age is a time-spanning romance between 1999 and 2010, following a young immigrant to Australia, Kol, on the precipice of adulthood as he experiences a 24-hour romance with a friend's older brother, Adam. As the young men engage in their brief yet passionate fling, they have no clue how meaningful their connection will become as they grow into full-fledged adults and their lives take them in different directions. While this classic concept of the chance encounters of young love has been rehashed many times before, Stolevski's personal experience as a queer person adds dimensional elements of interiority and truth that will leave audiences remembering Of An Age for years to come.
1999
In 1999, Nikola' Kol' Denic is a Serbian immigrant to Melbourne, weeks away from his 18th birthday. An amateur ballroom dancer, Kol's partner of choice is his closest friend, the self-centered Ebony, who is more invested in her wild teenage social life than her friendship with Kol. Of An Age begins with Ebony waking up after a long night of partying on an empty beach with no idea of how she got there and no clue how she is supposed to make it to the early-morning ballroom contest in which she and Kol are supposed to compete. A payphone call to Kol perfectly portrays the one-sided friendship between the two, as Ebony ungraciously pleads for Kol to come to pick her up. Without a car or license or car to rescue Ebony, Kol undergoes a wild goose chase to find someone with wheels that can help them out, turning to Ebony's mysterious older brother, Adam, to save the day. Embarking on the "rescue mission," Kol begins to learn more about Adam - the two talk about everything from Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together soundtrack that Adam plays on the drive to the writings of Kafka that Kol pretends to understand. As they finally locate Ebony, the blossoming connection between them emerges, even though Adam is bound for a new job across the globe in Argentina the next day. Unconsciously unable to bring their time together to a close, Adam and Kol spend the rest of their day (and night) with one another, driving around, deepening their connection emotionally and physically, 24 hours that both will never forget.
Adam's car represents a place of great security for Kol, where he quickly learns to let his guard down and embody an honest version of himself that he hides from his conservative family and peers. Stolen glances between the two men enrich the space with romantic tension. Although Adam is initially portrayed as an enigmatic figure in Kol's eyes, the older of the two quickly reveals his vulnerability, allowing Kol to unlock his own authenticity. The sanctuary of Adam's car becomes the centerpiece of the film's more-robust first part. Symbolic of Kol's developing identity and unstable world, Of An Age's beginning is comprised of whiplash editing and shaky hand-held camera movements that slowly formalize as Kol and Adam find themselves in one another. As the film's first half ends with Adam leaving, an emotionally moving arc forms through the invigoration and sadness both men experience through their whirlwind romance. This profound connection that Kol and Adam have so quickly created speaks to inherent conceptions of young love to which almost anyone can connect. Yet, through Stolevski's queer life experience, this portrayal of youthful romance is subverted from typically hetero-normative interpretations of a familiar cinematic trope.
2010
Of An Age resumes over a decade later - in 2010 - and Adam and Kol's lives have taken them in directions their younger selves would likely have never imagined. Both men have left the limiting circumstances of their Australian adolescent years, only returning to the continent as fully-fledged adults for Ebony's wedding. Yet, reconnecting at the airport shortly after arriving back in Melbourne, Adam and Kol's chemistry restarts as though many years have not passed since their first encounter. Although both have bloomed into very different creatures in the passing years, it is clear that their evolved feelings for one another have never diminished. Shortly into their trek to the wedding, Adam confesses that he is now happily married, sending Kol into a tailspin of shattered emotion.
As Kol grapples with his changed relationship with Adam throughout the evening of celebration, he experiences a flood of contradicting feelings that often occur in reality as we undergo transitions in life. Kol can no longer avoid Adam as the sun rises on the wedding party; the two share a heartstring-plucking moment of truth as they reflect on their past together and their current life situations, to which Kol reveals how crucial Adam has been in his own creation of self. Yet, even though their story did not end as Kol may have imagined all those years ago, the profound link between the two lives on - as the film draws to a close, this sentiment seems remarkably genuine and hopeful.
Courtesy of Focus Features.
As proven with Of An Age and his 2022 feature debut, You Won't Be Alone, Stolevski has a remarkable ability to capture characters within his work that wrestle with meaningful change in their self-identity. Through Of An Age, the young filmmaker presents a subjectivity of the "coming out" or queer experience that is not typically portrayed through more mainstream theatrical releases. While neither of Of An Age's protagonists, Elias Anton and Thom Green, identify as queer, the chemistry between the two on screen is handled with great care and is a clear reflection of Stolevski's own identity. As a result, Of An Age creates a visceral atmosphere surrounding the beauty and tragedy of young love with which many queer audiences can relate.