Thorn

June 1972. David Bowie sings 'Starman' on British T.V. The watching Steven Patrick emerges from the cocoon of his bedroom onto Manchester streets beset with teenage skinhead gangs and 'bittermen' with rampant homophobic and racist views. At school he encounters a brutal headteacher, a bigoted Catholic priest with a tendency towards humiliating young boys and the ever present taunts of other children in the playground.

'Thorn' portrays how this young Mancunian wrestles with the problems of his own sexuality supported by his love of David Bowie and Glam Rock. He finds solace in conversations with his sister but finds his greatest ally to be that of his mother. He eventually pins his hopes on a girl that he meets at a party.