Jeanette Bonds
Inspired by real-life tragedies Teens like Phil challenges the viewer with an incredibly real, intimate, and sobering portrayal of homosexuality and teen violence. Phil and Adam attend high school together and are both coming to terms with their own sexuality, only one seems to be more comfortable than the other.
Filmmakers Dominic Haxton and David Rosler possess refined and emotionally acute cinematic sensibilities as demonstrated in their handling of some rather intense and vulnerable moments. The use of extreme closeups of lips and slight touches, effectively captures the heightened physical sensations associated with initial physical contact with a person of interest. Haxton and Rosler greatly succeed in cinematically capturing precisely what it is the eye and the body focuses on during those moments.
Haxton and Rosler do a fantastic job of making us be able to both see and feel the character’s cognitive and emotional states. And what’s even more impressive is how well they capture the experiences of both Phil and Adam independent of one another. Although the film spends much of its time demonstrating the cruelty bestowed upon Phil for his sexual orientation, the film also spends much of its time focusing on the familial and sociological circumstances that essentially create aggressive behaviors for teens like Adam. The filmmakers tell their “… intent was to show that this aggression is a cycle of abuse that starts at home. No one is predestined or hardwired to become a bully — it’s the culmination of years of conditioning by the their families, the media, and their peers to be abusive and desensitized towards others. “
Alan Watts’ recorded lectures on sexuality play an integral role in the film. His voice and his words contextualize the core of sexuality and identity in the film. The directors tell us “Alan Watts functions as the all-knowing narrator who illuminates the message that I want to convey — which is to be true to yourself and your feelings. Like he says at the end, all that matters is that you love yourself. If you can do that then you will be find healing from within. “
Teens Like Phil attentively demonstrates the challenges some young men face in a society that in many ways is still struggling to accept homosexuality. But as brooding as the film is in its subject, it ultimately leaves us with a positive outlook, reminding us to have the confidence to be ourselves and regardless of how isolated we may feel, we are certainly never alone.