What are the elements you associate with coming-of-age stories? The big three are friendship, becoming adults, and the opposite sex. The stories in the genre are often the same, but it’s the events along the journey that differentiates one film from the other. In the case of Guy Davies’ Philophobia, his story takes place in the English countryside during the final week of school for promising young writer Kai (Joshua Glenister). This week, Kai has to figure out “his s**t” before his abrupt push into adulthood.
“…Kai has to figure out ‘his s**t’ before his abrupt push into adulthood.”
First, let’s talk about Kai’s circle of friends. Kai stands out because he has the talent to move onto university and his friends…not so much. Kai fears moving on, and leaving the world he finds comfort in behind. The friends stand by one another, bust balls, and hope to do something grand in their final week of school. In a way, though, Kai may subconsciously be sabotaging his future out of fear.
Now, the girl. She is Grace (Kim Spearman), who lives across the street and never shuts her windows. Kai spends several occasions staring at her from across the way, and Grace knows it. The obstacle to Kai’s infatuation is her bully-of-a-boyfriend Kenner (Alexander Lincoln), who knows all about Kai’s obsession with Grace. The relationship gets complicated when Grace asks Kai to help her with schoolwork and then begins to leave literal doors open, hoping he’ll say or do something.
"…Grace lives across the street and never shuts her windows."
