Close: Film Review
Lukas Dhont‘s Belgian drama Close won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year and has been nominated for the Best International Feature Film Oscar – and it’s easy to see why this heartbreaking drama has earned such recognition.
The drama tells the story of two 13-year-old boys, Leo (Eden Dambrine) and Remi (Gustav De Waele), who have a very close, intense friendship, almost like brothers. Their seemingly unbreakable bond is torn apart when their schoolmates start to ask if they’re in a gay relationship. The questions and the bullying drives a wedge between them, with devastating consequences.
Close is a beautiful, deeply moving film, however, I liked it more in the first half than the second. In the first half, I adored watching their sweet friendship and felt increasingly sorry for the sensitive Remi as Leo gradually pulled away. It moved slowly but it had a clear sense of purpose and direction and I was seriously compelled by it. But in the second half, the pace was slower and started to drag, the direction was more meandering and I felt less invested in the story.
This film really highlights the importance of communication and expressing your feelings. In the first half, it was maddening watching the boys fail to address the gossip between themselves privately. I really wanted them to have a verbal confrontation but they didn’t have the tools and would rather drift apart than talk about it.
After a big game-changing development, this lack of communication becomes even more frustrating. There are so many big, emotionally-charged conversations that needed to be had for both the characters and the audience to get closure and they were a long time coming and not quite satisfying enough. So much is still left unsaid and I wanted more – more information about what happened and more open discussions about feelings.
Dambrine and De Waele are sensational actors. They gave remarkable, deeply emotional performances for young boys and so much is conveyed through looks and physicality than words. I also want to give a shout-out to Emilie Dequenne for her poignant portrayal of Remi’s mum – and Leo’s second mother figure – Sophie, who bottles up a lot of what she needs to say.
Close is a beautiful yet emotionally frustrating film about male friendship.
In cinemas from Friday 3rd March