In 1963 John Lennon (Ian Hart) flies to Barcelona with the Beatles manager Brian Epstein (David Angus) for a weekend of relaxation. On the flight they meet stewardess Marianne (Stephanie Pack). Lennon flirts with her and gives her their hotel telephone number. He asks Epstein about gay sex and says he thinks about it sometimes, but believes it would be painful. They play cards and Epstein tells Lennon he is surprised that he mentioned it because the situation between them is hopeless. Lennon says that he finds Epstein charming but does not want to have sex with him, and is angry because everyone they know thinks they are having a sexual relationship. He goes to bed and receives a telephone call from his wife Cynthia. She says that she misses him, and Lennon says that he misses his son Julian.
Lennon and Epstein go to a gay bar and meet a Spaniard named Quinones (Robin McDonald), married but gay. He is invited back to the hotel where the three of them have drinks. After some friendly conversation he leaves early. Epstein is angry with Lennon, calls Quinones a fascist, and says that nothing matters because he can’t have the one thing he wants. He goes to bed and confides in Miguel (Sergio Moreno), the hotel boy. He asks Miguel for a blowjob but then says he is only joking. Later he talks to his mother (Unity Grimwood) on the telephone.
The pair look around Barcelona and Lennon takes photographs of Epstein. They discuss Lennon’s relationship with Cynthia, but he does not like talking to Brian about it. Lennon has a bath and plays the harmonica. Epstein enters, sits on the tub, and Lennon asks him to scrub his back, which Epstein starts doing. Lennon kisses Epstein, who undresses and gets into the bath. They kiss a little more, then Lennon abruptly gets out of the bath and leaves the room. Epstein finds him smoking in bed, and Lennon says he is not angry but can’t put into words what he is thinking. The telephone rings, it is Marianne, and Lennon tells her to come up. Epstein is angry, Marianne arrives, and Brian leaves. Marianne asks Lennon why Epstein is upset, and they argue. She says that she can see they care about each other but she thinks Lennon torments Epstein. They dance to a Little Richard record.
Lennon asks Epstein about his first time in Barcelona. Epstein says he was sent there by his mother a couple of years previously following an incident where he was robbed and blackmailed by a man he met for sex. Following the trial, he was forced to see a psychiatirst and his mother sent him to Spain. Two months later he met the Beatles. Epstein tries to get Lennon to promise to meet him in Barcelona in ten years, no matter what they are doing. He agrees to at least remember the arrangement. Later, Epstein lies awake in bed with Lennon sleeping next to him. He remembers a time when he took Lennon to his special place, the roof of his family’s store and told him how special the time they spent together was to him.
This indie film, shot in black and white, captures the intimacy and intensity of a friendship that would soon be diminished by Beatlemania. Controversial and provocative, it is a fine contribution to gay cinema. Ian Hart's resemblance to Lennon is so uncanny he went on to play John Lennon again in the film "Backbeat". It must be noted that the real John Lennon said, "It was never consummated. But we did have a pretty intense relationship." Christopher Munch scripted and directed.
