Peer pressure. The desire to fit in. Social expectations. These things can be a death knell to any friendship. We most often see this in high school films dealing with teenagers, but the breakup of a close friendship can be just as devastating when it happens to children. Such is the case in Close, the Cannes award-winning sophomore film by director Lukas Dhont.
Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele star as Léo and Rémi, two boys who have just shared a wonderful, intimate summer together. But when they return to school, the other students begin to question the nature of their relationship. It isn’t long before Léo, who is beginning to get ideas of what a man should be, begins pulling away from his friend, leaving Rémi confused and alone until tragedy strikes.
This is the second effort from Dhont after his acclaimed 2018 trans drama Girl, which he also co-wrote with this film’s writer Angelo Tijssens. Close debuted at Cannes earlier this year, taking home the prestigious Grand Prix.
Close has yet to get a domestic release, but you can bet A24 will be taking it to festivals (Middleburg, please?) ahead of an awards season date.
Leo and Remi are two thirteen-year-old best friends, whose seemingly unbreakable bond is suddenly, tragically torn apart. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Lukas Dhont’s second film is an emotionally transformative and unforgettable portrait of the intersection of friendship and love, identity and independence, and heartbreak and healing.