Alexander Lincoln and Jack Brett Anderson on new platonic queer film A Night Like This: ‘Sex can get in the way’

Alexander Lincoln is no stranger to the BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. He memorably starred in the sports flick In from the Side when it played at BFI Flare in 2022. 

Now he’s back and starring alongside Jack Brett Anderson, a newbie to BFI Flare, in the heartfelt rom com-but-for-friends film, A Night Like This. The film sees Lukas (Anderson), a down on his luck actor, meet Oliver (Lincoln) in a London pub. What starts out as a slightly awkward conversation turns into a night-long adventure around the capital as the two men find something new in one another. They then agree to part their separate ways at eight o’clock the next morning. Harry Potter actor David Bradley also stars.

What makes the film a breath of fresh air is that it isn’t bothered with establishing a romance between Lukas and Oliver, though there are certainly romantic moments to the story. At its heart, the film is about two people, both of whom feel somewhat lost and alone, connecting on a deep and intimate level. In doing so it draws attention to the reality of the smartphone age, where everyone is instantly connected with the world, yet we’re actually not that connected at all. 

“The film is a conversation,” says Anderson ahead of the film’s world premiere at BFI Flare on Friday 28 March. Another screening will be held on Saturday 29 March. Both are sold out; however new tickets will be released between ten o’clock in the morning and noon on both days. “There are moments that these guys could go their own way because they don’t owe each other anything other than the need and want to connect or feel wanted by someone in a way. It’s about slowing down, hearing each other out, being wrong, offending each other, laughing at each other. And not taking life too seriously.” Lincoln echoes his co-star. “The human connection is actually something that we’re lacking generally in every sense.”

The lack of a focus on romance between the main characters was delightfully refreshing to the two actors as well, who enjoyed not getting bogged down in sex. Lincoln opines, “Sex is a baseline of life, for sure. But it can get in the way in film. What these characters are actually doing is connecting. So often we lose that aspect, just making friends. It sounds ridiculous, but that’s essentially what it is.”

Another way that the lack of a romantic plot aids the film, is it gives more time for the characters to go on a journey of self-discovery and self-improvement. Both Lukas and Oliver begin the film feeling shut off from the real world in one way or another. And yet it is in their meeting and spending a night together that they are both reawakened to life.

The theme of self-discovery is more literal for Oliver, who finds himself learning more about his sexuality as the night goes on. When he brashly enters the pub at the beginning he’s the epitome of the classic straight (seeming) hunk with his well-fitting white t-shirt, leather jacket and guitar strung over his shoulder. But bit by bit the façade crumbles and he starts questioning more of himself as well as the world around him. 

In words that mirror the way Alexander Lincoln first publicly referenced his own sexuality in 2023, the actor offers his take on Oliver’s journey. “I don’t think he’s ever necessarily said to himself, ‘I am fundamentally straight’. I don’t believe he’s ever actually asked himself that question either as he’d been with women. And then he meets someone he feels akin to. There’s someone who shares his identity in that, and as a result, there’s this immediate attraction.” He pauses, then concludes: “I think Oliver has thought about it but hasn’t acted upon it until this moment.”

In turn, Oliver unlocks for Lukas a sense of hope that men, as a group, can be good people. Explaining his take on the pair’s relationship Anderson describes it as “Tetris-ing. You know, clicking in [together]” to sounds of approval from his co-star. “It demonstrates to people taking a little bit of a risk. They say, ‘don’t talk to strangers,’ but in this case, a stranger was what they both needed.”

As for the impact the film has on audiences, simply put the pair hope it gets people talking in a very literal sense. And by that they mean active listening too. As the film shows, the results can be immensely liberating and beautiful.

“Nine times out of then when you’re scared of something, it’s never as bad as you think,” says Anderson. “And I think that’s what’s in this as well. Lukas slowly becomes more of himself and tells the truth about his journey, and then [Oliver] does too because they didn’t let each other go.” Lincoln adds, “There’s an element of people pulling back because it gets vulnerable. And that vulnerability is so human. That’s what I want people to take away, to embrace your vulnerability.”

As the conversation draws to a close, I ask Lincoln about the positive response from the 2022’s In from the Side. It wasn’t something he expected, and to this day he still gets messages from people who have felt empowered to come out because of the film, which he is immensely proud of. He lets slip that he and director Matt Carter are still in touch and that “There’s things we’re talking about.”

I enquire about a sequel. Lincoln’s calendar looks busy for the next few months, as he’s set to star alongside It’s A Sin‘s Omari Douglas in Billy Porter’s directorial debut play This Bitter Earth in London this summer. But still, a follow-up is on the cards. “There are conversations happening. I won’t go into too much detail because at this stage it’s all very early days, but who knows? But there are things.”

A Night Like This is screening at BFI Flare: London LGBTQI+ Film Festival on 28 and 29 March. Ticket information here.

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