The idea sounds like something from out of a comedy: two guy and childhood best friends are encouraged to kiss one another as part of a silly student film, and the experience triggers something within them and their friendship. Depending on the filmmaker, the premise of Matthias & Maxime could have gone in a very broad, unsubtle way, but under the guidance of Canadian director Xavier Dolan know to expect a certain level of emotional nuance.
Dolan, who not only directs but co-stars in the film as Maxime (you can also see Dolan early on in It Chapter Two this weekend), with Gabriel D’Almeida Freitas as Matthias, the latter a married banker growing too mature for his friend’s rowdy tendencies. The cast also reportedly features a role by Beach Rats and The King’s Man star Harris Dickinson, but it’s unclear whether his scenes made the final cut. Dolan does have a tendency to ax out some pretty big names, as he did in his most recent film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.
SYNOPSIS: Two childhood best friends are asked to share a kiss for the purposes of a student short film. Soon, a lingering doubt sets in, confronting both men with their preferences, threatening the brotherhood of their social circle, and, eventually, changing their lives.
Matthias & Maxime has yet to gain stateside distribution, and while normally I would say it’s bound to happen, I’m not so sure anymore. The wait has been long for ‘John F. Donovan‘ to find a distributor here and yet with a cast that includes Kit Harrington, Natalie Portman, and Jacob Tremblay it’s still not been picked up.
