Blue Jean came to my attention in the flurry of publicity after season one of The Testaments ended. I learned that Lucy Holliday, who played Daisy in The Testaments, won the 2023 BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress in a Film for Blue Jean. That sounded worth checking out.

I found Blue Jean streaming on Hulu. It tells about life in Scotland in the 1980s for gay people. The Thatcher government was oppressing LGBTQ citizens at that time. The main character in this film was Jean (Rosy McEwen), a closeted PE teacher. She would lose her job if anyone figured out she was a lesbian. (Rosy McEwen recently played a younger version of Nicole Kidman in Scarpetta, which was another thing I found interesting about Blue Jean.)

After just finishing The Testaments with its depiction of “gender traitors” in Gilead it was easy to trace a line from a film like Blue Jean through The Testaments and into the real world of 2026 USA and the current oppression of LGBTQ citizens by maggot R*public*ns.

Lois (Lucy Holliday) was a new student at the school where Jean taught PE. Lois looked like she might be good at netball and Jean wanted to get her on the team. Lois disrupts everything about Jean’s safe life.

Jean liked to hang out at a lesbian bar with her girlfriend Viv (Kerrie Hayes) and some other friends. Soon after Lois arrives at the school, Jean spots her in the bar. Lois sees her, too.

Lois stays quiet about what she knows about her teacher when she’s at school. The other kids don’t like Lois. She has a hard time at school. She’s mouthy and aggressive and doesn’t blend in.

In her private life, Jean is having a hard time with her girlfriend Viv. Viv is out–close cropped hair, leather jacket, motorcycle, tattoos–out. Viv can’t deal with Jean staying hidden and keeping their relationship secret.

Two crises hit at once. Viv dumps Jean. A mean girl at school tricks Lois into kissing her and then says Lois attacked her. Jean knows what happened with Lois wasn’t her doing. The final act of the film is Jean deciding how bold and brave she will be in defending Lois and in hoping to win Viv back.

There was quite a bit of sex and nudity in this relationship drama. There were many anti-Thatcher moments. There was a large group of out and proud LGBTQ characters that Jean knew and hung around with. Many of them felt like stereotypes, including the pretty PE teacher and her butch girlfriend, but the emotions rang true. Overall, it was a fascinating character arc for both the teacher and her young student.

The film was written and directed by Georgia Oakley.

Even if you’re simply curious to know what Lucy Halliday did to win a BAFTA Scotland, the film is worth watching. You can check out the trailer to see if it looks good to you.