Close

Two boys discover the societal limits of masculine friendship in this drama

Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele star in the beautiful Belgium drama, Close.

At 13, Léo and Rémi (Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele) already possess the sort of idyllic friendship you only read about in books. They spend their entire summer together, running through fields of flowers, sharing secrets, and sleeping together under the sun. Their families think it’s wonderful, smiling as the boys curl up with each other or giggle as they play. It’s the sort of total comfort with another human being that’s both rare and glorious when you find it.

So of course, school has to ruin it.

When the boys end up in a new classroom, their relationship draws scrutiny. They’re mocked by some. Others simply assume Léo and Rémi are a couple. Rémi won’t discuss his relationship with Léo, but the extra attention begins to irk his friend. Upset at being called gay and made fun of Léo decides to prove his mettle as a man — he joins the hockey team, befriends other boys, and most heartbreakingly, begins to pull away from Rémi every chance he gets.

The strain this puts on the boys’ friendship is immense, as is the pressure that each child feels to behave in a certain way. Is it ever ok for boys to be close? Or are there limits to how boys are allowed to behave?

It’s difficult to make films about childhood that feel real. Adults tend to write children as too sweet or obnoxiously precocious. But Close, Belgium’s entry for Best International Film at the Oscars, manages to avoid these pitfalls with a carefully observed look at these two boys. While the story itself might seem straightforward, the subtlety with which it’s told makes Close truly something special.

Writer/director Lukas Dhont and co-writer Angelo Tijssens take pains to show us the boy’s relationship without any real judgment. Dhont drenches the film in picturesque scenes from the Flemish countryside, adding to the feeling that Léo and Rémi’s relationship is not only beautiful but natural. But as the boys leave the natural world and rejoin the “real” world, things get complicated. It's easy to be free with yourself when there’s no one around to question what you’re doing. Harder to be true to what you want when you’re bombarded with judgments from every one of your peers.

By keeping the film quiet Dhont manages to make the emotional resonance greater. Men are rarely allowed intimacy outside of a romantic context. So when two boys are snuggling or whispering to each other, people try to give it a context that wasn’t there. Female friends who sleep cuddled up would likely not face the same scrutiny from outsiders. Perhaps the boys will grow into a romantic relationship, or perhaps they wouldn’t, it has little to do with the harmless interactions they have. This is a movie about the loss of innocence and an examination of society’s impulse to label relationships, and the damage those labels can cause. Léo and Rémi weren’t hurting anyone by being close, but they are irrevocably hurt by those who picked apart their interactions.

At the core of Close are two excellent performances from Dambrine and De Waele. Both actors offer beautiful, natural acting as Léo and Rémi learn about the harshness of the world outside their little bubble. Dambrine in particular is excellent as Léo. While thrilled to have a close friend, he’s the most susceptible to outside scrutiny. Dambrine brilliantly shows how this type of attention forces Léo to retreat inside himself. He goes from an open, grinning kid to a sullen quiet, more traditionally masculine child. It’s a heartbreaking transformation, one that Léo clearly grieves.

A tender story about friendship and love, Close may be a little too intense for some (there is a rather massive trigger warning that is also a spoiler, so consider yourself warned that there are some hard moments in the film). It’s hard to watch children being traumatized, and the film certainly packs in some horrifying events. But if you can get past the trials and tribulations of Léo and Rémi, Close is a wonderful example of how films can challenge you and how you see the world.

Verdict: A powerful film about the loss of innocence, this is a movie you’ll need a few hankies to get through.

Close is rated PG-13 and is currently available in Theaters.