If there is a problem with The Lawyer, it’s the fact this apparent commentary eventually becomes muted, so the narrative can easily become moulded into something far more representative of a conventional romantic story arc. Marius is an intriguing character because of what he represents — a “white saviour” who thinks he can easily rescue somebody he has no deeper connection to beyond an aesthetic appreciation. This is a trope rarely displayed within LGBTQ cinema, but here is used to great effect to establish his position within the city’s gay community; Marius’ only friends are people noticeably younger than him, and the people who he has helped (such as a young trans man whose coming out video he helped fund) all have struggles he can’t fully comprehend. Marius is a character who casts himself as an outsider and refers to himself as a minority, even though his limited worldview is far more conservative than he would allow himself to believe. 

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Even when Marius flies to Belgrade to meet Ali, this is only happening because of his privilege — the luxurious interiors of his central city hotel contrast sharply with the refugee camp and ageing tower block apartments he only ventures to in order to see Ali. Zabarauskas makes this barrier between the two subtle, as the tension between their two different places in the social pecking order is largely unspoken, resigned only to awkward, stilted conversation on their initial meet ups. In the third act, the writer/director stumbles somewhat; Marius starts probing Ali by demanding traumatic stories from his past so he can build a case to help him move elsewhere in Europe, but this proves to be the start of their relationship strengthening, rather than a way of further illustrating the gulf between them. The fact that the relationship feels awkward at first, because of its origins in an online chatroom where Marius displayed a one sided obsession, suggests that The Lawyer may be giving way to a far more cynical arc than the more obvious one which eventually materialises. A commentary on white saviour narratives ends up just becoming one.

Zabarauskas’ film is about how stereotypical signifiers of identity (be they race, class, profession or sexuality) can often overshadow characteristics that speak to a person’s true self. But The Lawyer doesn’t fully grapple with its weighty white saviour theme, and ends up becoming as simplified as what it was setting out to subvert.

Alistair Ryder (@YesitsAlistair) has been writing about film and TV for nearly five years at Film Inquiry, Gay Essential and The Digital Fix. He’s also a member of GALECA (the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association), and once interviewed Woody Harrelson, which he will probably tell you about extensively, whether you want to hear about it or not.