The debut feature film of renowned Scottish artist/filmmaker Henry Coombes, Seat in Shadow is a witty, perceptive study of social mores, sexual excess and the bizarre symbiotic relationship between doctor and patient, teacher and pupil; artist and muse.
Albert (David Sillars), an eccentric, aging painter doubling as an unconventional, Jung-inspired psychotherapist, is asked to counsel his friend’s lethargic grandson Ben (Jonathan Leslie), whose ongoing boyfriend problems are rapidly fueling an already deep depression. Their subsequent therapy sessions, though, seem to reveal as much about Albert as they do about the troubled young Ben. Soon, a deeply unusual bond is formed.