Close, 2022.
Directed by Lukas Dhont.
Starring Eden Dambrine, Gustav De Waele, Émilie Dequenne, Léa Drucker, Kevin Janssens, Igor van Dessel, and Marc Weiss.
SYNOPSIS:
Thirteen-year-olds Leo and Charlie have always been incredibly close, but they drift apart after the intimacy of their relationship is questioned by schoolmates. When tragedy strikes, one is forced to confront why he distanced himself from his closest friend.
During Close (the sophomore feature from Lukas Dhont, having previously made transgender ballerina drama Girl), one character points out that when girls are affectionate to one another, people rarely jump to conclusions about their sexuality. However, when it’s a couple of boys… well, that’s when the bigotry and bullying sometimes start.
Leo and Remi (played by Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele, respectively) are best friends on the verge of middle school. They have imaginative and playful minds, assist with work on Leo’s parent’s flower fields (which cinematographer Frank van den Eeden exquisite recaptures with vivid color as the boys sprint through them), and frequently spend the night alongside one another. Occasionally, they embrace one another, but what it means to them might differ. Or maybe one of them is locking away their true sexual identity in response to accusations of being gay.
Whatever the case, Leo begins pulling away from Remi, turning his attention toward upping his masculinity. He joins the school hockey team and changes up his whole attitude, often while avoiding engaging in any activity or physical touch with Remi that could be perceived as gay (those a slightly upsetting moment where Leo rolls away from Remi, who is resting his head on his friend in public, only for his had to land on the grass with a painful thud), and then eventually, outright ignoring him.
Close already functions intelligently as a treatise on gender roles, identity, and the stranglehold toxic masculinity can have over the sweetest friendships, tainting them, but Lukas Dhont (co-writing alongside screenwriter Angelo Tijssens) has more in store to explore, particularly something that could send the whole film spiraling into a clunky saccharine mess in the hands of a lesser filmmaker that doesn’t understand the nuance and sensitivity. The filmmaker also wisely and largely stays away from prolonged homophobia and abuse; it’s decidedly about these boys.
Equally beneficial is Lukas Dhont’s confidence in these child actors and his willingness to linger on their facial expressions, trusting them to wring every drop of emotion possible out of these heartbreaking situations. Eden Dambrine is especially a revelation here, even more so when Close forces him to play up a character wracked with guilt (something that causes a dramatic shift in the hockey practice scenes, funneling that anger and pain into the sport). He also has scenes opposite Remi’s mother (played by Émilie Dequenne) that are purely powerful.
Close slows down and doesn’t have many places to go throughout the rest of the running time, but the delicacy in which the complex subject matter is handled offsets that to an extent. And the film continuously builds to a quietly heart-wrenching but hopeful closer.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
