Close * * * * ½

At times this film was so extraordinarily real I actually wanted to interfere.  I wanted to tell the major protagonist and his best friend that they are okay.  

Of course they would never listen to me.  Young people prefer to take advice from young people. And that is part of the problem with Leo and Remi. They were doing fine until their peers started to make comments about them. 

Set in a rural area of Belgium, Leo and Remi are two thirteen year old boys who are the best of friends.  They are unconscious about their open display of warmth and affection for each other. They will sleep together, they will wrap arms around each other. They play imaginary games together.

A lesson learned too late.

A new year starts and they are sent to high school.  It is there that the comments start, both positive and negative: "Are you guys a couple?"  Leo especially becomes upset by it. He makes every effort to distance himself from Remi and takes on new activities, like joining the ice hockey team.

Remi is less bothered by the comments and opinions of others and would happily continue their relationship. It hurts him deeply that Leo is shunning him.  

To see this beautiful friendship breakdown for no other reason than self-consciousness is painful to watch, especially as it glides into a serious and awful tragedy.

Director Lukas Dhont has done a magnificent job with this film. The two boy actors are utterly convincing in their roles.  A lot of the film is shot through a long lens giving us a sense that we are secretly watching them.

Without being voyeuristic it is so intimate you actually begin to feel uncomfortable at times, even though there is nothing sexual.  

Close is a very beautiful film that will leave you with memories both sweet and haunting.