Close - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9

General Audience Score - 8

When it comes to films in a foreign language, there are so many excellent ones each year, it’s really a shame the Academy Awards only chooses five for nominations of Best International Feature. There are incredible films from artists and filmmakers the world over, of those there are only a handful that even get their films submitted for awards consideration. But this year Belgium is submitting Close for Best International Film, a movie about two young boys of around twelve years old that are, well, just about as close as platonic friends can be. I will stay as vague as possible in this review to avoid spoilers. With that being said, this film is unbelievably sad, I cried at least four different times during the hour and a forty-five minute run, more than any film I’ve seen in years. I will put in a warning that this film may be triggering for some people, especially parents, so if you’re easily shaken I’d suggest reading the plot details before watching to make sure you can handle it. But as much as it may be devastatingly sad, it’s also a very powerful, moving, and brilliant film. I’d recommend this movie to critics and general audiences alike, it was Close to being my favorite film of the year.

SYNOPSIS - We begin this emotional wrecking ball of a movie watching two young boys in the twelve or thirteen age range, they are playing a game together in a fort. In this game someone is looking for them, “don’t make any noise”, Leo (Eden Dambrine) says. Leo is a blonde haired boy who’s green eyes become multi-colored in the sunlight, he is also the more outgoing of the pair, his dark haired, quieter, wooden-sword wielding companion is Remi (Gustav De Waele). They take off and run through woods and fields of flowers, they stop to speak briefly with some of Leo’s family who are working in the field, then take back off into the woods towards Remi’s house. The scene cuts and the boys are laying on the ground outside Remi’s home with a woman, Remi’s mother Sophie (Emilie Dequenne). The boys rest their heads on her and they talk for a while, we get the sense of closeness that these families must have with each other. Later, after Leo tells his mom he’s staying the night over at Remi’s home, Leo’s mother asks him if he’s ever going to sleep at his own home. 

As the boys lay in bed together that night, Remi asks Leo to tell him a story, so Leo makes up one of a chick that meets a lizard. This is the first of many times the camera seems to lay on the pillow, providing some close-up shots of the boys faces, it was able to create an incredibly intimate feeling. But the following day we watch Leo and Remi attend what we assume to be the first day of middle school. Because the boys spend most of the time together during lunch, recess and every other opportunity, eventually other kids notice and ask if they’re “together”. I will say no more. Even if some parents don’t have the strength to endure the emotional rollercoaster ride this film takes them on, it’s still important to try and understand the pressures that kids will face in school. While I was watching I kept asking myself what was going on inside the minds of these boys, what they were thinking and what did they feel about the events the film depicts. As a father, it also made me consider the amount of time I spend talking with my own boys and how I need to make more of an effort to ask them questions about what they’re thinking, their thoughts and concerns, in and out of school. The more I know about what they’re feeling and dealing with the better equipped I’ll be as a parent to help them as best I can.

Close is directed and written by Lukas Dhont, and while the screenplay is pretty bare bones, the dialogue being sparse, there are actually many sequences that have prolonged silences, but the direction and vision from Dhont is unmistakable. What he’s able to extract from this cast of actors is almost a miracle. It is incredibly well acted, the two main child actors in the film, especially Eden Dambrine, easily pass up the child performances from any of the films I’ve seen this year. They probably surpass all the youth actors from last year as well and may even land among the best of the decade. The entire ensemble cast, the parents of both boys also deliver high level performances and they all deserve recognition. The film is also very cinematic, some of the sequences showing the boys running through fields of flowers showcased some very good camera work, as well as sequences of the family working out in the flower fields. The pacing of the film was on the slower side and more deliberate, but after the first act concludes, the audience is left reeling for basically the rest of the runtime. While this film will emotionally wreck many viewers, it’s also a very touching and sentimental movie that can help some parents tune into the rapidly changing world that our children are growing up in. As foreign films go, this is simply one of the best of the year.

SUMMARY - In the end, this film offers some incredible cinema, so bring a box of tissues along and be taken on a journey of understanding, acceptance and ultimately forgiveness. Cinephiles, movie lovers and critics, especially those with children, may fall head over heels for this film as I did. But general audiences might be Close behind if they give this little foreign film a chance.