This is a small scale, intimate and rather bleak drama from Alkinos Tsilimidos, whose previous films have included Tom White and Em4Jay. Blind Company reunites Tsilimidos with his Tom White stars Colin Friels and Nick Barkla. Friels plays Geoff Brewster, a 56-year old bisexual former teacher who is dying of AIDS. He is slowly going blind, and has come to spend his remaining days at his secluded beach house. He is dictating his apologia on a tape recorder. His ex-wife Sally (Gloria Ajenstat) comes by every now and then to clean house and check up on him. A new arrival is his young, dope-smoking slacker nephew Josh (played by Barkla, who is also one of the film's producers). There is an undercurrent of tension in their relationship, and Josh torments his uncle. Blind Company is an exploration of damaged people – damaged by love, betrayal, and their past. Tsilimidos is a director of great economy, and he slowly parcels out revelations about the characters and their secrets. However, audiences will fail to engage or connect emotionally with the sketchily drawn characters. The film has been shot on location on the remote west coast of Tasmania, and Adam Arkapaw's gorgeous cinematography of the windswept coastline adds some much needed beauty to the film, and gives audiences a break from the dark and almost claustrophobic interiors. However, given the nature of the personal dramas unfolding the drama lacks any real bite or tension. The film is well acted, especially by Friels who brings some compassion and empathy to his role as the deeply flawed Geoff. Wordy and dialogue driven, lacking any real action, Blind Company comes off more a theatre piece, and it will struggle to find an audience.
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