Review: 'High Tide' a Moving Queer Love Story Set in Provincetown

There's a scene about 30 minutes into writer-director Marco Calvani's affecting and assured feature debut, "High Tide," where the two central characters are revealing their fears to one another. Both characters are shot in close up and then extreme close up – their expressive eyes, a shy smile, a worried look, a fascinated glance, an accepting nod – always engaged, listening intently. It's a wonderful scene, and one of many where the filmmaker delves deep into the subtle nuances of what his characters are feeling underneath what they're actually saying.

Set in Provincetown, and buoyed by a beguiling breakout performance by Marco Pigossi, "High Tide" takes on quite a number of topical themes like immigration, racism, and internalized homophobia, as well as universal themes such as longing, loneliness, alienation, and, of course, love.

Our protag, Lourenço (Pigossi), is a Brasilian wanting to emigrate to the U.S. Back in his home country he's an accountant, but here he works as a cleaner for Bob (Seán Mahon), an irascible bully smarting from his wife having left him for a woman. Lourenço is mourning a recent breakup, and spends a lot of his time with Scott (Bill Irwin), the sympathetic guest house owner from across the way, when he isn't toiling for Bob or avoiding telling his mom back home that he's gay. One day on the beach, he meets Maurice (James Bland), a nurse from Queens who has his own queer entourage. They slowly begin to get to know each other, share coming out stories, and eventually hook up.

Calvani takes his time to establish a believable bond between Lourenço and Maurice. This isn't the typical blink-and-they're-in-love queer indie. The eventual intimate moments reflect that, beginning awkwardly and evolving into something more sensual. When Lourenço says something Maurice finds offensive, we feel like peeping toms that should not be privy to the conversation.

There's a terrific subplot involving Marisa Tomei as Bob's slightly off-center artist ex-wife Miriam, who instantly takes to Lourenço. "You might break someone's heart on the way to opening your own," Miriam shares with Lourenço in just one of many perspicacious lines in the film. I longed for more scenes between these two very different, very damaged, very real people.

Pigossi is quiet but powerful presence onscreen. And Calvani, his husband in real life (along with his fab DP Oscar Ignacio Jiménez), knows how to lovingly photograph him so we are almost as enamored with Pigossi as his husband obviously is. The actor commands the screen, but with a great subtlety and an almost ballet-like charisma.

Calvani also captures the many landscapes and moods of Provincetown to perfection.

In the final shot, which continues a bit through the credits, the film achieves a kind of return-to-where-we-came-from transcendence. There are no easy solutions, but there is a grace is finally accepting ourselves and shedding our learned self-contempt and shame.

"High Tide" opens in NY on October 18th, in LA on October 25th and select cities in November.