How many friends do you have when you were 6? When you were 12? 15? Growing up takes your life in so many directions with each new experience, that friends at times can feel like an afterthought, especially with those long summer vacations. Close beautifully, tragically, looks at what happens when growing up gets in the way of friendship, and the ripple effects it has on everyone.
Nearing the end of summer vacation, Leo (Eden Dambrine) and Remi (Gustav de Waele) spent their summers doing everything together. Leo so often sleeps over at Remi’s house that Leo’s mom Nathalie (Lea Drucker) assumes Remi’s parents Sophie (Emilie Dequenne) and Peter (Kevin Janssens) will probably feed Leo and not have to worry about him. But middle school beckons, including new kids and activities, which pulls the inseparable duo away from each other a little bit.
The first half of Close is movie perfection. I vividly remember great times I had with my childhood friends, but what I don’t really remember, is how those friendships changed, or even ended. It’s never usually one thing: it’s a slow drift apart that may or may not end in a big fight. Leo and Remi’s little summer vacation fantasy comes slowly back to reality as the schoolyear goes on. First Leo and Remi are asked if they are a couple; Leo, taken aback, starts doing activities with other kids to forge his own path. Then there’s a missed morning bike ride to school, then some coldness with a surprise visit to hockey practice. These little slights build and build inside of the 11 year old boys, and in the audience as Dhont amps up the tension little by little. Had the movie built to a big moment, or even better, just a slow drift apart from one another into different people, Close would have been maybe my top film of 2022.
Instead, Dhont makes a big swing about halfway through, turning Close into a different movie. Though not as beautifully ubiquitous as the first half, the emotional storytelling in the 2nd half really hits hard. After the big turn, Close takes its time, following the incredible Eden Dambrine as Leo tries to find a new normal in this new reality he is in, looking for that summer magic he had with Remi with other people instead. The scenes Leo has with Emilie Dequenne’s Sophie will break your heart with how touching and delicate they are written, acted, and directed, capturing the beats of everyday life Dhont is so clearly in tune with. Dhont, like most people, uses mundane chit chat to start the conversations, as each participant slowly opens up little by little, necessary if you want to emotionally connect with a closed off 11 year old boy, waiting for their subtle invitation for a deeper conversation. Even though there’s no “action” per se, Dhont’s story and Eden Dambrine’s performance have you glued to the screen, eager to see what other beautiful tragic miracles Close can come up with next.
Lukas Dhont must really miss his middle school friends. Close is a sweet, sorrowful loveletter to the forgotten memories of childhood, off on their own adventures without you. Hopefully, you’ll all feel a little sad, but you also find some hope in there too, as you grew into the amazing person you are today, without emotional tragedy holding you down like Leo. Poor, dumb, innocent, Leo.