Private Project

Underwater

Battling with his own inner demons, Jonathan, played by Australian talent Jaxon Radoc, is taken to an elite swimming academy deep in the English countryside by his soon to be step-mother, kept away from her upcoming wedding to his father. At the academy, Jonathan struggles to find his place among the group, he may be a top athlete in his field, but when it comes to the small world of Lakeside, swimming, sex and chauvinism combine to create something explosive and the potential for something very dangerous.

Lightfarm’s debut short movie brings an all-star cast from the adult industry and drops them into the mainstream movie world, providing real chemistry between the actors, with real tension and drama like none other. The rites-of-passage all young gay men face and how they adapt to new surroundings and a burgeoning sexuality is fully explored here. With director Alejandro Sesma at the helm, and producer Steven Chinnery working closely together, the movie gives an authenticity rarely seen in such movies

  • Alex Sesma
    Director
  • Steven Chinnery
    Writer
  • Lee Redpath
    Production Manager
  • Kayden Gray
    Key Cast
  • Jeremy Chris
    Key Cast
  • Kamyk Walker
    Key Cast
  • Jaxon Radoc
    Key Cast
  • Lee Redpath
    Key Cast
  • Kimi Monroe
    Key Cast
  • Danny Montero
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    gay, coming of age, LGBT
  • Runtime:
    23 minutes 28 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 23, 2015
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Pro Res 422 HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director - Alex Sesma
Director Statement

Underwater is situated within the confines of an upper-class international swimming institution in the UK's countryside. The seclusion of such a location facilitates the character's blossoming and inevitable explosion.

The film is a depiction of a young man's downward spiral. Jonathan is an outcast, a reject from school as well as his new family. With the death of his mother and his father's identity crisis, he finds himself under the control of his future step-mother, a selfish, evil woman, who sends him off to a remote place so the path is clear for her to marry his dad and secure her future. It is within this strange school that Jonathan, along with his personal fears, begins to suffer a sexual kind of bullying which takes him from romance to vengeance in a matter of days.

It might be, perhaps, hard to believe that this storyline is in reality part of a feature-length hardcore porn film. It has been our intention for some years to further explore the links between mainstream cinema and adult entertainment. Our first attempts come from the world of porn, where longer and better thought-out storylines have been mixed with a higher production value in the hopes of building an audience who can appreciate a different kind of expression. This time our main aim was to focus predominantly on producing a mainstream short-film for the LGBT festival circuit rather than just promote our adult films with a short softcore extract on YouTube. Every actor you see in this film is a porn-star. They have never been so excited during a shoot as when following this script. Their commitment and interest is one we hope to achieve from the viewers when they realise the true nature of this project and the limitations we were subject to.