Joe (Khalil Ben Gharbia) is weeks away from freedom following a stint in a youth detention centre. With no family to return to once he leaves, he’s feeling nervous and that’s complicated with the arrival of William (Julien De Saint Jean), an intense young man who moves in to the cell next to him. With pent up anger and frustration, Joe finds that a burgeoning friendship with William gives him some hope but when that turns into romance, he has to decide whether he values his freedom more than his heart.
‘The Lost Boys’ is set inside a youth detention centre and the film draws parallels with The Lost Boys from the classic ‘Peter Pan’ tale. These are all young boys who have been let down by society, and found their way to the detention centre through reckless behaviour. Joe seems to be one of the more placid of the boys in the centre but he’s warned by social worker Sophie (Eye Haidara) that if he mucks up his chance at freedom, there may be no more opportunities for him to return to normal life in the future.
As soon as William arrives, things turn intense between him and Joe. Desperate to be loved and feel like he belongs somewhere, Joe is happy to jump into his new relationship head first even if the centre he’s staying in forbids personal contact. The separation between the boys only adds to the intensity as they communicate through the walls of their cells, eventually graduating to stolen kisses and embraces when they’re not under watchful eyes. As Joe’s release day nears, he puts off telling William but as you can imagine the omission of that crucial information creates a passionate and violent divide between them when it inevitably is uncovered.
At times ‘The Lost Boys’ does attempt to get under the skin of the social issues that are at play around the young men at the centre. We get some idea of what Joe has been through during a poetry session where he reveals parts of his back story and shares the abuse he’s suffered due to being of Arab descent. For me, film-maker Zeno Graton doesn’t quite go far enough and what should probably have been a much grittier film ends up feeling a little too clean. The detention centre is supposed to be strict, yet the boys get plenty of opportunity to fraternise with seemingly no consequences. Perhaps the love story at the centre of ‘The Lost Boys’ was a more important story to tell than the grit that’s bubbling under the surface?
Khalil Ben Gharbia and Julien De Saint Jean carry the weight of the film. Even when the story feels a little too cushy, and the social politics takes a backseat, you’ve got their romance to root for. The fact that it seems to happen so easily is a little jarring, but you can forgive it because the chemistry is there. Both actors turn in strong performances and the film is worth watching for that alone.
‘The Lost Boys’ is an engaging watch but I’d have liked it to hit a bit harder. Joe and William are characters with a great chemistry but we don’t know enough about them to really get behind them. The performances of the two leads is strong but there’s not enough depth in this story to truly satisfy. It’s a shame as there are some really great moments, and some very tender ones, that elevate the film above the material.
Cast: Khalil Ben Gharbia, Julien De Saint Jean, Eye Haidara Director: Zeno Graton Writers: Zeno Graton & Clara Bourreau Certificate: 15 Duration: 83 mins Released by: Peccadillo Pictures Release date: 15th December 2023 (Cinemas & Digital)
