When casting for his second feature, Lonesome, the Sydney writer-director Craig Boreham turned to Grindr. He wanted actors who knew the film’s world, not just of gay hookups and casual sex but the desires that can fuel these encounters: boredom, horniness, intense isolation.
Casey (Josh Lavery) is propelled by all of the above: a country boy leaving his small town to get his “big-smoke slut on”, as his first Sydney hookup Tib (Daniel Gabriel) says. With his wide eyes, ripped torso and cowboy hat, Casey resembles a man hoping to be mistaken for a myth – but glance underneath his hat’s rim and you’ll see a hurt soul, having long internalised that his only value is his looks.
