Transmasculine film-maker Harvey Zielinski’s handsomely textured directorial debut deploys the familiar homecoming narrative, whereby a person returns to the small town they grew up in to reconcile with the past. The journey home often – like in The Dry and Beautiful Kate – involves coming to terms with events that cast a long shadow over the protagonist, who is frequently a city slicker greeted with festering local resentments (like in Bruce Beresford’s recent drama The Travellers).
But neither of those things happens to the protagonist of Sweet Milk Lake, Jake (Zielinski), who returns to his home town to see his terminally ill estranged father, Lee (Kieran Darcy-Smith). In fact, Jake is warmly welcomed back, reintroduced to the rituals of small-town Aussie life such as fishing, barbecues, beers, archery and the occasional fistfight at the local pub.
The big, melancholic twist is that nobody – not even Lee – is aware that Jake is transgender: they think Jake is his twin brother, Sam (also played by Zielinski). Just as SBS’s recent series Homebodies used the trans experience to reinvigorate the ghost narrative, where the protagonist was literally haunted by his pre-transition self, Zielinski brings a similarly fresh perspective to a well-trod narrative.
Sweet Milk Lake doesn’t make a song and dance about upending conventions or throwing out the rulebook: its digressions from formula feel less like calculated moves than natural byproducts of different perspectives and lived experiences. It reminds us of the great ability of under-represented voices to bring new emotional shapes to familiar archetypes. All the performances in this film are very good, but Zielinski is especially fine in the lead role, imbuing Jake with very interesting layers; he’s softly spoken but has a very compelling presence.
The understated nature of the drama is apparent even in the story’s most significant turning points. Jake initially has no intention of hiding his identity to his father: when they first speak in person, after many years apart, Lee assumes he’s talking to Sam, and Jake simply doesn’t correct him – a small moment with potentially massive repercussions. Countless films have explored the emotionally complicated relationships between estranged children and parents, but, again, the trans experience illuminates new possibilities and questions. To what extent does Lee know his son? Are they, in some ways, meeting for the first time? And of course: how will Lee react if he discovers the truth?
As much as audiences may expect that last question in particular to be answered, Zielinski resists the obvious routes and eschews didacticism. This is a film with plenty on its mind, though it never tells us what to think or feel, instead creating a contemplative space in which understanding and compassion are possible, but by no means guaranteed. Like life itself, things remain messy – circumstances shift, feelings go unresolved – but Zielinski has the storytelling chops to shape that uncertainty into compelling, well-paced, rewarding drama.
One of the lighter relationships is between Jake and local gay man Toby (Hunter Page-Lochard), which has the potential to blossom into romance. “No more straight dudes. No more fake shit,” Toby tells Jake in one scene that demonstrates Zielinski’s ability to illustrate moments of connection that feel tender and truthful, yet effortless in their staging.
Another occurs when Lee opens up about the past to Jake. This moment is reflective and melancholic, reflecting the unlaboured, emotional tang of the dialogue, Lee explaining how he “took off” and regretted it, but “ran out of time” to fix things.
Reflecting on his children, Lee tells Jake, “You two couldn’t be more different” – which is a very interesting line, given the circumstances. Lee might be right about the twins’ differences, but he of course has no idea which one he’s speaking to.
It’s these kinds of fresh and subtle moments that reveal what a rich and nuanced film this is.
Sweet Milk Lake is showing at Melbourne international film festival now, with a general Australian release to follow
