CLOSE Discovery

Screening to be followed by a conversation with director Lukas Dhont.

In the second feature from Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont (GIRL), the friendship between two sensitive and affectionate 13-year-old boys, Léo and Rémi, is abruptly torn apart when they enter a new school. Accustomed to lying on top of one another in the grass and sharing a bed at frequent sleepovers, Léo and Rémi’s physical closeness is immediately apparent to school bullies, who begin to mock them. Fearful of his classmates’ jests and insinuations, Léo pushes Rémi away, causing the relationship to strain and the once-inseparable best friends to become strangers. CLOSE is a tender, heartbreaking film about the agonizing stages of growing up and the struggle to discern one’s own identity. Spearheaded by piercing debut performances from Eden Dambrine as Léo and Gustav De Waele as Rémi, the film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. –Julia Kipnis