Zulema Ali
Close, the second feature film from Belgian director Lukas Dhont, chronicles the touching adolescent friendship of two young boys that will leave you with an aching feeling in your heart.
Nominated for the Best International Feature at the Oscars, Close draws the audience in through its intimate portrayal of love and friendship shared by two young boys. A heartbreakingly beautiful tale of love, identity, grief, and healing, the film delicately navigates the purity of friendship and the devastating consequences when it all falls apart.
Remi and Léo
“exquisite performances have garnered much acclaim from critics”
We share the screen with Remi and Léo, brilliantly played by newcomers Gustav De Waele and Eden Dambrine, whose exquisite performances have garnered much acclaim from critics. They play two friends, on the cusp of teenagehood, who have just entered the unforgiving world of high school.
The two boys are rarely apart and seem to share everything. Meals and nights are hardly ever spent alone. At sleepovers they share a bed. Léo tells stories to lull Remi into sleep, his presence acting as a calming cloud over Remi’s worried demeanour. But summer is over and now their friendship must bear the weight of external opinions.
Soon the two protagonists find themselves at arms with fellow classmates over their close behaviour. Innocent (although perhaps subconsciously malicious) comments create an unstoppable avalanche of consequence and actions, over which there is no return.
Toxic Masculinity
“we watch as boys, too young to have the words to understand toxic masculinity, deal with the constraints it brings”
We watch as boys, too young to have the words to understand toxic masculinity, deal with the constraints it brings. Léo is visibly more upset by the comments, so he fights back, and searches for ways to alter his behaviour. He finds the escape he is searching for in sport. For Léo, ice hockey becomes a way to blend in with his peers.
Days once spent with Remi running through fields of flowers are replaced by the ice rink with a different and rowdier crowd. The protective gear is Léo’s armour and hyper-masculine veil. But Léo’s new-found journey comes at a sacrifice for his relationship with Remi.
Two Halves
Close is a film of two distinct halves. The film, in its second part, becomes unbearably sad, and relentlessly so. Léo and Remi’s friendship becomes ‘tragicized’, prematurely ending where it isn’t given the chance to grow and evolve. Brilliant cinematography by Frank van den Eeden captures the characters’ emotions and lives so realistically, you feel like you are alongside them. Their grief becoming gut-wrenchingly ‘too real’.
“Dhont handles the narrative delicately and with grace”
Still, Dhont handles the narrative delicately and with grace. Without judgement, the characters are allowed to evolve and navigate new territory at their own pace. Instead of being explicit, the film moves with a controlled subtlety.
Deeply poignant, Close won’t leave room for a single dry eye in the audience.
Featured image courtesy of Pascal Debrunner via Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
zulema
A Liberal Arts graduate from the University of Leeds, Zulema Ali is an aspiring writer. She is an everything literature and film enthusiast, writing reviews and commentaries.