Gender relationships have always been a favourite proposition to talk about in films. Love, marriage, sex life, cheating and cheating …… whichever niche they aim at, they can weave eye-catching stories that are either high energy or refreshingly unconventional. Of course, if you watch too many romance movies, you will always feel like you have “seen it all”. But as it turns out, there are some sails that have more brains than you have – Permission
But after looking at the big cousin’s face, I relented. In fact, it’s a standard Hollywood adult love story. From the main actors to the supporting cast, it’s a slate of high quality faces. Dan Stevens, the main male cousin, is not only an over-the-top actor, but his face and flesh are his additional weapons. With a slight smile, he is handsome enough to cry to countless young girls. The female lead, Rebecca Hall, will also be no stranger to many people. This girl never acts in ordinary films. Vicky in Midnight in Barcelona, Elizabeth in Professor Marston and Wonder Woman…all three-way stories. This time it’s even better – as well as going down herself, she’s brought her husband along to play a gay man in ‘Permission’.
It’s also very showy. The film begins with an unpredictable flip-flop. The bed is occupied by none other than the film’s protagonists – Will and Anna. They are a couple who have been in love for many years. The two have been involved in each other’s lives since very early on, being each other’s first love, first kiss and first time. I was going to lament the fact that it’s rare to see such a refreshingly unconventional configuration in an American romance these days. But seeing it later I realised that I was still too simple… … Will and Anna have been in each other’s hearts for many years, and they are so in love that it is time for them to get married.
But the twist comes just before Will proposes. It was Anna’s birthday. Will had the ring, the house and the vows ready. During the evening date, the two men’s gay honeys were there. When they hear about their plans to get married, one of their drunken, damaged friends starts giving them advice: you shouldn’t just get married so hastily, you should try other men more often. It’s no fun to kiss and sleep with just one guy for the rest of your life. That doesn’t feel right, but there’s no way to argue with it? The onlooker made a casual remark, but the listener was moved. Anna’s expression began to falter, and Will, too, withdrew his words of proposal.
After a period of outward calm and inward turmoil, they come to an agreement – the two of them start an open relationship while remaining in love with each other. To put it bluntly, they each go out and have sex with someone else, but afterwards, still only love each other. What a REALLY thoughtful couple …… They also gave themselves a reason: since we’re in a deep enough relationship, why not experience a little bit of life? Besides, this activity allows us to be more sure of being the one we want most for each other. I’ve seen it before, you two are a good match for each other’s brains. After hitting it off, the two went into action – at the bar where they had gone hunting, Anna soon found her target.
Will reluctantly gives her an assist and watches her leave with another man. Let’s order a song for him, ‘Green Light’. Anna was clearly a little nervous before the pop started, as she hid in the toilet and started asking Will for his opinion. The arrow is in the air, if you don’t have an opinion, I’ll send it. Will was also very gracious in encouraging Anna: go for it, you can do it. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Sure enough, it was water under the bridge on Anna’s end. However, when Anna returned home afterwards, things started to go wrong between the two of them. Will pretends not to care, and can’t help but ask Anna how she feels: the young man still isn’t confident enough… This night, they still seem close and say I love you to each other, but something is slowly changing. After what happened, Anna and Will’s best friends were cautioning them: it was a suicide pact.
But Will felt, more than anything, that it was a chance for the relationship to prove itself. How could a relationship of so many years be ruined by sleeping with someone else once? So soon he, too, has sex with a mature, sexy woman, Lydia. Although Will comes home honest and confesses that he doesn’t feel much sexual interest in Lydia, he still sleeps on the sofa that night. As it turns out, women are not always easy. With the first, comes a second and a third …… Anna and Will soon have different dates again.
By this time, the two men’s hearts were also showing – Will started out as an obvious playboy, unable to hold his interest whether the other was sexy or cute. But in time, he and Lydia slowly open up, and even inspire Will’s special attributes. Anna, on the other hand, has a deepening bond with her first date, Dane. They frequently applauded ‘I don’t know what’, went on dates, played the piano, cooked, and romantically did things that couples do. In the process, Anna enjoyed herself like never before. Things are getting out of hand and both men are starting to get the hang of it and are ready to call it quits. But, is it all too late? Overall, a large part of the low ratings for Permission and the low word of mouth from audiences comes from the story that falls into clichés and the… a female lead who works herself to death. But as a whole, the film is still very eye-catching. Highly attractive male and female leads, beautiful cinematography and exquisite compositions. There is an episode in the film – Will returns home alone, and over there, Anna is making out with her little brother. Will is lying in bed with the camera facing him backwards and turning his head again to the building that is crumbling on the TV.
The shot is full of realistic allegory: like the relationship between these two people, it is tilting and crumbling just like the building… In the film, Anna and Will have an open relationship that is called permission. They insist that the relationship is only with each other, and that they sleep with other people just to get the experience. It is easy to see that such permission reflects the tentativeness, mistrust and greed with which modern people approach relationships. They want love and freedom at the same time. They want the warmth of bonding, but are not willing to risk tears. But in this world, there is no such thing as the best of both worlds. Gain and loss are one and the same, and you can’t have both.
Don’t ever test human nature. It often ends up hurting yourself. If it were Dean I, with a boyfriend like my first cousin …… would still push him out to roll with someone else? God strikes lightning.