Dinner and a Movie: ‘Only You’ and Swedish cinnamon buns

Match a meal from SBS Food with a movie at SBS on Demand, for the perfect night in.

‘Only You’. Source: Only You Production Limited

Growing up isn’t always easy. Initially, getting older brings excitement and opportunity, but before you know it, there comes a point where each subsequent birthday brings with it an increased pressure to have life figured out. Whether it’s a relationship, your job, or the decision to have kids, by the time you reach thirty, there is an expectation that you have an answer to all of the above.

So, what happens then if you’re thirty-five, cynical about the prospect of ever finding the one thanks to your parents’ messy divorce, and find yourself constantly having to justify yourself in every situation?

Such is the case for the enigmatic Elena (Laia Costa) in Harry Wootliff’s Only You, a Spanish émigré living in Glasgow who just can’t seem to shake the feeling that she is somehow failing at being an adult. Despite a wide circle of friends and a successful career, another New Year’s Eve rolls around, and thanks to its unique ability to make any single person acutely aware of their relationship status, she finds that not even copious amounts of vodka and corn chips can mask her feeling of being ‘less than’.

As she calls it a night and leaves her friend’s party, Elena finds herself embroiled in a fight over a taxi with DJ and graduate student Jake (Josh O’Connor), and the two end up conceding to a shared ride home.

Josh O’Connor and Laia Costa. Source: Only You Production Limited

Unexpectedly, those few moments together unveil an electric chemistry, albeit amidst some painful small talk, and one thing leads to another. As they arrive at Elena’s apartment, the attraction is undeniable, but once out of the dimly lit cab Elena is faced with a reality that really shouldn’t matter, but to her really does. Josh is in his mid-twenties, with a youthful exuberance and impulsivity that is both intoxicating and intimidating, and Elena immediately finds herself guarded.

When you haven’t liked someone this much in a really long time, however, you have to be willing to take a risk. So, she does what any sensible person would do and lies about her age. What could go wrong?

One night together turns into every night, and before too long, Josh decides to move in, much to the delight of Elena, and perhaps even more so to the delight of her bestie Carly (Lisa McGrillis). There’s just the small problem of continuing to pretend that she’s in her late twenties. This is made particularly difficult when Josh begins to ask questions in his signature straight-shooting style, coercing Elena to slowly reveal the truth over the course of an intimate evening at home. “You’ve aged six years in like four hours… it’s quite unusual,” he says wryly.

Thankfully, the whole thing seems to matter much less to him than Elena first thought, and with one potential crisis averted, there’s a renewed hope that this relationship might just work out. An age difference really doesn’t matter… until it potentially does. As time passes, Elena starts to realise that she doesn’t just want a relationship, she wants a baby.

Age really doesn’t matter… until it does. Source: Only You Production Limited

The two are so incredibly close that it doesn’t take Josh long to realise what is going on and, surprisingly, he is completely on board. They jump headfirst into the process of trying to get pregnant with no way of possibly knowing the can of worms they have just opened. One negative pregnancy test is expected, a couple more are a disappointment, consistently seeing a solitary line makes you wonder if it’s just bad luck or if something could be really wrong, especially when everybody around you seems to be conceiving without a problem. The course of true love never did run smooth, and fertility issues certainly don’t help!

So begins the exhausting and all-consuming process of IVF, bringing with it tension that would shake even the strongest relationship to its core. The issue of age that they thought they had so easily put aside reappears in the cruelest and most unavoidable way, and Elena leans on the support of her friends to get her through the very real challenge of fighting for love in the face of the seemingly insurmountable challenge presented by her own body.

Thankfully, as Carly proves, there are very few situations that aren’t helped by a warm cup of coffee and a delicious cinnamon bun.

Swedish cinnamon buns from SBS Food

are the definition of comfort food, just as sweet and almost as heartbreaking as the story unfolding on screen – unless you keep them all to yourself, that is!

The film handles the trauma of infertility with an unapologetic authenticity that doesn’t shy away from the accompanying heartache. These are two characters whose emotions are so palpable and whose experiences so familiar that at times it’s easy to feel as if you know them. Their tale of optimistic love despite the obstacles of modern life is a reaffirmation of the importance of running your own race and the liberation that comes with letting go of what might have been. After all, sometimes everything you need is right in front of you.