Close to You is a story about love and family. Elliot Page stars as Sam, a trans man going home for the first time in several years because it’s his father’s birthday. There’s a secondary plot about an old love from Sam’s high school days.
Close to You begins and ends with the same scene. Sam wakes up in the morning, looks out the window, gets dressed, and goes downstairs for coffee. In between those two mirror image scenes, everything happens.
The film was directed by Dominic Savage who wrote and produced it with Elliot Page.
Sam agreed to go home for a birthday celebration. He was nervous and apprehensive about it. On the train from Toronto to his home town, he ran into Katherine (Hillary Baack). They had been very close in high school. She was married with two kids now and Sam was a man now. They were glad to see each other but interacted awkwardly at first.
Before the weekend was over, Sam and Katherine were together many more times and clearly still cared for each other.
The situation at home with his family was a bit awkward. His parents (Wendy Crewson and Peter Outerbridge) were supportive and loving. His father was especially wonderful. His siblings were supportive too, but one of his sisters brought her transphobic asshat of a partner Paul (David Reale). That led to conflict.
Sam had to defend his existence to Paul, which provided an opportunity for some powerful conversations but ultimately led to Sam walking out.
There were a lot of tears in the film. There were a lot of close ups of Elliot Page’s face and body. There were long thoughtful silences and solitary walks in the freezing cold. It was a quiet film but ultimately heartwarming. There was the pain of being misunderstood mixed with the love of being seen for who you are.
As a slice of life, a few days and hours with Sam, the film offered some meaningful moments. It shines a bright light into Sam’s transgender experience. I wouldn’t say it’s exceptionally good but it’s definitely worth watching. You can see it on Netflix.
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