CLOSE TO YOU
(director/writer: Dominic Savage; screenwriters: Elliot Page, story by Page & Savage; cinematographer: Catherine Lutes; editor: David Charap; music: Oliver Coates, Dominic Savage; cast: Elliot Page (Sam), Hillary Baack (Katherine), Wendy Crawson (Miriam), Peter Outerbridge (Jim), Janet Porter (Kate), David Reale (Paul), Alex Paxton-Beesley (Megan), Andrew Bushell (Siephen), Daniel Maslany (Michael), Sook-Yin Lee (Emily); Runtime: 100; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Daniel Bekerman, Dominic Savage, Richrd Yee, Krishnendu Majumdar, Chris Yurkovich; Kindred Spirit; 2023-UK/USA)
“A film with good intentions about accepting those maligned over their gender change.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The Canadian production by English director Dominic Savage (“Love + Hate”/”The Escape”) is a film with good intentions about accepting those maligned over their gender change. It tells the heartfelt story of a trans man named Sam (Elliot Page) who returns to his hometown from Toronto, traveling by train, for his father’s birthday.
On the train he meets an old flame, now married with children, Katherine (Hillary Baack). She still likes him but offers him no future.
When home, Sam must deal with the reactions he receives from family and members of the community.
Sam’s mother Miriam (Wendy Crewson) loves him but remembers him best as her “little girl.” His father Jim (Peter Outerbridge) is dutifully supportive, as are his siblings (Janet Porter, Alex Paxton-Beesley, and Daniel Maslany). But his pushy brother-in-law Paul (David Reale) can’t accept Sam as a trans man and is itching to rip into him.
Without a plot, the drama involves only a series of confrontations that in the end leaves Sam alone and wearing the same ski cap he wears throughout the pic.
Sam’s story is told through the POV of a transgender man. There’s not much of a story. But the positive is that he can be admired for having the courage of his convictions to become the person he wants to be.
It’s a landmark film for transgenders or those connected with that community.
It played at the Toronto International Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 8/27/2024 GRADE: B –
dennisschwartzreviews.com