Close to You

I had the opportunity to see Close to You in its limited release, and it moved me in ways a film hasn't in ages. The emotional depth from Elliot Page and Hillary Baack's performances leave you with feelings of grief, compassion, and hopefulness. So much of Page's character resonated with my own experiences as a queer, neurodivergent woman. It is a portrait of someone who has and continues to come home to themselves, having to revisit the home that raised a version of them that was never whole. The pain, conflict, and anxiety that comes with wanting to be part of the family that unintentionally harms your spirit. It was encouraging to see the dichotomy of a loving family that is also having unhelpful behaviors illuminated on the path to learning and understanding. More than anything, this film is about the diverse complexities of the human experience. It will leave you with a heaviness that is necessary to truly see every aspect of a person's experience. It healed parts of me that I often forget need attention. Beautifully shot, excellent performances, and a story worth exploring together externally and internally.

I'd heard some wonderful things about this film from those around me, and at my local art theater. Knowing this was a personal story for Elliot Page, I went in otherwise blind, wanting to see the results for better or worse-- and in spite of the post-festival IMDb rating (4.4/10 as of Sept. 2024). The film is clearly a personal one, from the opening scene. The low budget is on display, but this is entirely a compliment: character actors you might recognize from other things are made to feel like real people, in a real family, in a real house. Visually, not a lot happens. There are no fistfights, there are no fancy camera tricks. The camera instead focused on the emotions of the characters, focusing on faces, and sometimes just the eyes. If you let yourself feel what the characters are feeling, the film is as rewarding as it is eye-opening. It can be uncomfortable. It can be confusing. It can be confrontational-- but ultimately this is simply Sam's (Page) story, from his perspective. His own emotional journey, not just over the course of the film, but how every day, Sam is just a person, living his life. It was indeed uncomfortable to experience some of the things that might be normal every day occurrences for Sam, but seeing things from someone else's perspective is why we go to the movies. I'm glad that Page and director Dominic Savage (who absolutely has a bona fide resume) got to tell this story, and I'm glad I was there to watch them both tell it. Not all of the characters are sure what to do with Sam, and some try harder than others, but no one ever feels entirely where they should be. It is a movie of the moment, and captures-- what I can only assume-- the current moment perfectly. 8/10, watch it with someone you care about.

Underated ,I don't know why. The film is about the search for happiness and our place in the world. That's why the plot around family and even the romantic background, or what she does, how she lives ,etc.. is not important here. I think the message is that we need to be brave enough to become what we want no matter what , even if that requires to go against the most difficult chain to be break: family. She found her place,her selflove and self-respect and with that ,the respect and love she deserved from others. I doubted about watching because the rates. I'm glad I follow my instincts. It is a must to watch.

Beautiful, respectful and inspiring film Due to my own personal experiences in life, this resonates with me, and therefore it is much needed as I feel more akin and less of an alien in this world. I completely understand why some people may be off put by this kind of genre due to there own experiences or perceptions and yes in some cases being in the queer category myself it can even be overbearing/ loud even for me. However without these kind of 'niche' films, I would never of accepted myself. I hope this film helps others find accept and love themselves for the truly unique and imperfectly perfect human beings they are <3. If the description doesn't make you want to watch it, then you don't have too... Nobody is forcing you, you have a choice and freewill... That's all everyone wants - equality and respect.

Elliot Page plays the character of Sam, a person who has undergone a personal journey to discover his true gender identity. Page is in fine form here, perhaps the best I've seen him in his career, in a role that feels lived in and drawn from real experience. There are two separate stories running concurrently throughout Close To You. One concerns a family gathering Sam has some hesitation to attend, the other concerns a chance meeting he encounters on his travels with an old flame. The former situation delivers much of the film's finest moments including Sam's attempts to re-connect with members of his immediate family, with the most memorable interactions are between him and his parents. Of course, no family gathering would be complete without at least one antagonizing in-law, and ultimately Sam must confront this individual's passive-aggressive and overt transphobia head on. I hesitate to call the re-connection with his old flame a sub-plot, it actually takes up at least as much screen time as the family drama. There's just less to grab onto here to make it nearly as compelling. Their relationship could have benefited from more backstory to give the audience a better understanding of their history together (was their younger romance secretive, for example?). As it is this portion is quite bland, nothing to lift it from anything more than a conventional romance. While it has flashes of genuine and heartfelt emotion Close To You ends up not as impactful as it perhaps hoped to be. The script feels meandering in many spots and I'm not surprised to discover the dialogue was mostly improvised. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sam's is an important story to tell, but I can only marginally recommend this film at best.

This film's rating has been sunk by transphobes. If you are a reasonable person, don't let them put you off. It's a fine portrait of a painful family situation, with a lovely romantic twist that leaves the ending full of promise. The dialogue needed sharpening -- e.g., we hear Sam tell his family twice how much he likes his job, but we don't know what he does; and there's a little too much wistful cinematography; but the performances are strong, and Elliot Page and Hillary Baacke are outstanding. It comes together in a surprisingly satisfying way. I want to see Elliot Page team up with Patricia Rozema on his next film! That would be a lot of fun.

source: Close to You

It's a trans child negotiating his family relationship drama set over several days in present-day Toronto and Cobourg, Ontario, Canada. Sam (Elliot Page) is a trans male who transitioned from female, probably in his early 20s. He lives and works in Toronto and rooms in a house owned by Emily (Sook-Yin Lee). Sam has not seen his family for five years. Still, he has decided to go home to Cobourg, 95 kilometers east of Toronto along Lake Ontario, to help celebrate his father Jim's (Peter Outerbridge) birthday with the rest of the family. The movie follows Sam's train ride to Cobourg, on which he meets his old high school flame, Katherine (Hillary Baack), who is now married with children in Cobourg. Two parallel stories unfold, one follows Sam's encounters with his family, including his mother (Wendy Crewson), two sisters (Janet Porter and Alex Paxton-Beesley), brother, Michael (Daniel Maslany), and the two sisters' partners (Andrew Bushell and David Reale). The second follows Sam's efforts to reconnect with Katherine. "Close to You" is dark and filled with uncomfortable conversations. Sam's relationships with different family members vary and end in crisis. The yearning for understanding and acceptance amidst discomfort is powerfully portrayed. Sam's relationship with Katherine is also complex and is not as well explored, partly because she is deaf. That story leaves many unanswered questions. The film's cinematography is intimate and doesn't always work, sometimes feeling like it drags. Elliot Page is outstanding. My ears had trouble understanding Hillary Baack at times. The various Cobourg family members' characterizations are well-done and varied. "Close to You" gets an extra point for an insightful portrayal of a challenging subject.

This is a niche movie that will only appeal to a small minority of people. While they tried their best to be inclusive of all people the one thing that kept popping into my head was, "Who is this movie for". And the answer was always the same. Trans people wanting to support trans people. There seems to be this hope during the movie that straight people are going to be watching and suddenly think, "I really understand what trans people go through now.... I really want to know more. But the reality is we don't care. Same as trans people don't care about the struggles of straight people. We all have hurdles in our life. Being trans doesn't mean your hurdles are more important and need to be brought to the world attention. We simply don't care. Just be you, no ones stopping you.