#TIFF23 Review: Close to You (Special Presentations)

By John Corrado

★★★½ (out of 4)

The 2023 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7th to 17th, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found right here.

Directed with an intimate, improvisational style by British filmmaker Dominic Savage, Close to You is a remarkably tender family drama that stars Elliot Page as Sam, a young trans man returning home to visit his family for the first time post-transition.

Sam has settled into a life in Toronto, but an invitation to his father’s (Peter Outerbridge) birthday party provides the perfect excuse to return to his family home in Coburg, Ontario. Old memories are dredged up on the train ride, when Sam encounters Katherine (Hillary Baack), a close friend from high school who stayed behind in more ways than one. The scenes between Sam and Katherine provide the film’s main subplot and counterpoint from the family scenes.

There are hints of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? in the story, which is most effective at exploring Sam’s identity and the unique family dynamics at play surrounding it. Early on, Sam bemoans to his roommate (Sook-Yin Lee) about how it’s not that his parents (Outerbridge and Wendy Crewson) aren’t accepting, but that they view their acceptance as a progressive achievement for themselves. They are incapable of not drawing attention to his identity, making every interaction emotionally exhausting.

Working from a screenplay developed by Page and Savage that only featured descriptions and scene outlines, with all of the dialogue being crafted on-set, Close to You has a very interesting energy to it. The majority of the film centres around the party itself, with the story unfolding through Sam’s fascinatingly layered, emotionally charged interactions with his parents, siblings, and future in-laws.

The film doesn’t quite maintain this same energy in its home stretch, focusing more on the relationship between Sam and Katherine. But Close to You is still a fascinatingly personal film project for Page, who carries it with one of his finest, most raw performances. Page is excellent at captures that sense of feeling like an outsider with your family, even if you are being at least tacitly accepted (it’s a feeling that queer audience members in particular should be able to relate to). I was very moved throughout.