Directed by Helen Walsh, On The Sea is set to come out this Friday, June 24. Set in a Welsh fishing village, Jack (played by Irish actor Barry Ward) is a mussel harvester who falls in love with Daniel (Lorne MacFayden), a younger itinerant worker. 

Jack is married to his childhood sweetheart and lives in a community which is deeply shaped by the church and the fishing industry. His world is turned upside down when Daniel awakens desires he has spent more of his life suppressing.

Speaking to Press Association, Barry Ward stated that the Welsh setting could represent communities anywhere in the world, making the story incredibly universal. 

“I think that’s the point of the movie, in a way, that the Welsh location we chose can stand in for anywhere in the world… I think specifically in the more traditional working-class towns and industrial towns where, given the nature of manual labour, there’s often a bit more of a macho culture.

“We were both reading Édouard Louis, a beautiful French writer, while filming,” he continued. “He’s from a town in the south of France, very much not coastal, but an industrial town and it chimes very much with On The Sea. So I think it’s a universal story.”

Ward also spoke on adopting the Welsh accent for the role. Born in Dublin, it was an interesting challenge for him.

“We’re always looking as actors for interesting challenges, and they were plentiful on this,” he said. “The accent, first and foremost, was a tricky one, and Welsh is notoriously difficult.

“It was such a specific part of Wales as well, up north, closer to Liverpool, that it was a strange hybrid accent. We spent a lot of time working on that, but then, as Lorne mentioned, the dialogue is so sparse, given Helen’s beautiful and restrained writing, but also because of the world we’re in, which is very macho.”

The film has been said to be a tender and emotionally resonant drama that explores themes of masculinity, repression, and longing.

Co-star Lorne MacFayden also spoke about On The Sea, saying, “I loved the writing, and the setting was something I really connected with because I’m from a fishing community in Skye.

“I felt that that world was depicted very well, the close-knit, somewhat closed-off community and the pressures that come with trying to exist within it as someone who is a bit different,” he continued. “I really loved the way Helen wrote the dialogue as well, and how there was so much space between the lines. We could fill the silences with loaded context and back story.”

“It’s a really beautiful script, and it went through several iterations, it was an ever-evolving process. So a big part of it was the script, but a big part of it was the team as well.”

MacFadyen added: “It’s interesting to think about how different it would be if you set the story in an Irish or Scottish village, in an equivalent community, like a rugged island compared with Craggy Island. I think there are a lot of similarities.

“The common factor as well is class. The way sexuality is dealt with and perceived in certain trades and professions can make it more difficult for people who are queer, or who are living with some kind of alternative identity, to work in these very macho, heteronormative environments.

“I think that would be the common theme I recognise, but it would be interesting to see where the differences lie. I’m sure there would be some big ones that I wouldn’t know until I experienced it. It would be interesting to see.”