markaaron-97974 According to the director, this is his "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", a film about what happens when a madly-in-love couple is forcibly separated by a bad turn of events. But it's really much more than that.It's about the power dynamics in a relationship, and how they shift over time. It's about dominance and submission. It's about making choices. It's about freedom or the lack thereof. What keeps it from being overly ponderous (though it does raise lots of questions) is way it focuses on the specifics of a rather dysfunctional relationship between a needy, waif-like, seemingly helpless young man desperate to be taken care of, and a seemingly more together toughened-by- life older man who at first doesn't take him seriously but then falls hard for his boyish, coquettish charm.And then they're separated and they and we discover that they're not entirely who they seem to be and everything shifts.The cinematography is suitably gritty and sharp, while the acting of the two leads is superb. These are very flawed characters but we don't care and we fall in love with them anyway, the way they fall in love with each other.The ending is realistic and a bit sad, but not tragic. We all come away a little wiser, but just a little, as this is not Hollywood, after all, thank god.

zif ofoz I think Drector/writer David Lambert wrote and directed this weird story to appeal to those that have fun masturbating to needy and cruel fantasies!Look at the cast - two beautiful men both lost and directionless here in this story. They find each other and it's a downward spiral from there. One is so needy he gives into self destructive behavior just for attention and the other one is just incomprehensible. Just like this movie!There are other reviews here that praise this movie with words like - beautiful, adore, realistic, brilliant. I failed to see that. I found the movie, first, a bit silly, and second, wandering.

firoz-aboobaker I watched the movie with no much expectation! It turned out to be one of my favorite movies. There are only four characters in the movie ! All of them did their part really well, Especially Paulo. The ending was very beautifully directed i had tears in my eyes ! This movie explains how complicated love is. Even though you want someone, it is not easy to be with him. As the other reviewer said,the story is not at all similar to "Weekend". Only Similarity is, the main characters meeting in a bar for the first time! other than that i cannot see any similarity in the story. Beyond the walls is much complicated love story.

jm10701 Beyond the Walls is the beautiful, erotic and powerful story of an almost pathologically needy young man named Paulo, his encounters with two much stronger men, and how those experiences change his life.There are none of the stereotypical characters, florid melodrama and boringly predictable plot clichés that cripple most gay movies. From their initial meeting in a bar, Paulo and Ilir jump quickly into a relationship of such intense passion and tenderness that it makes all other gay movies look like The Love Boat. But from that point on, nothing anybody does fits our Hollywood-conditioned expectations of what these characters ought to do. They all change, but never in ways we expect them to.The movie is never either predictable or gimmicky, and every scene rings true. Best of all is Matila Malliarakis's astonishing, courageous and brilliant performance as Paulo. Everything about this movie is excellent - the writing, direction, photography, music, and all the actors - but without Malliarakis it would be just a good movie. He makes it spectacular.