The reflective, melancholic mood is set by an understated piano on the soundtrack that introduces a scene in which a shirtless Sam, played by Elliot Page, stares out a window at the world outside in a concrete corner of Toronto.
Page reveals the surgical scar on the top of his head in this scene, lending a personal, physical dimension to Sam’s story, which he conceived in collaboration with writer-director Dominic Savage. Rather than straying too far from the somber atmosphere, the filmmaker dials up and down the tension of the dread.
Sam is stressed and excited to return to his hometown and family for the first time in four years; he hasn’t seen anyone there since his sex transition. His friend and housemate Emily (Lee Su-Kyung) warns him that choosing his father’s birthday weekend get-together as the occasion for his return may backfire.
But undeterred, he sets off by train from Toronto to the leafy little town of Culver. His initial awkward encounter with a hometown figure, his high school friend Katherine (Hilary Bach), now a married mother, doesn’t bode well. Still, this brief reunion provides enough details to suggest that Cat and Sam were once closer than just friends, and it leaves heavy questions on both of their minds.
Everyone in Sam’s family seems to have some burdensome issues, but not everyone explodes or snaps at the same time. Savage lightens the mood somewhat with Sam’s unexpected homecoming, in which he is peacefully reunited with his mother Miriam (Wendy Crewson), his father Jim (Peter Outerbridge), his brothers and their partners.
The scene hints at the domestic warmth that Sam longs for, and the film could do more to add depth to the shades of gray. Apart from Sam’s brief quips, the film almost entirely foregoes humor in favor of angst.
So the awkwardness ensues, but as an expressive actor with a deep interiority, Paige finds plenty of emotional color to play with as tensions mount with each heart-to-heart between Sam and each of the families, all asking similar questions about their jobs, their happiness, their love lives, with varying degrees of concern and sympathy.
The moving tone of the long-delayed homecoming and the polite welcome that masks old resentments ring true, as do the awkward conversations with Sam’s father, eager to talk about his past bouts of depression, his sister Kate (Janet Porter), who has many questions, and his mother, who’s willfully supportive but fixated on the loss of her “little girl.”
The film carefully, yet all too casually, addresses all the concerns a family might have about an adult transgender loved one living alone in the city: Some seem to wonder whether someone like Sam can ever be happy, and one family member crosses the line far too far from awkwardly passive-aggressive to outright hostile.
The ensuing climax feels like the film’s inevitable conclusion, but the acting is strong, if contrived: Crewson and Outerbridge are particularly good as loving parents juggling a lot of difficult emotions at once, and Paige perfectly embodies the fulfillment Sam has found in life and the compassion he craves.
Unfortunately, neither Paige nor Buck build much tension or suspense around Sam and Katherine’s potential union, though Buck does convey that Katherine understands and appreciates Sam for who he is and who he was, and for someone like Sam, who just wants validation, it’s a win worth the train ride home.
Close to you (★★★☆☆) It’s now playing in select theaters, including Landmark’s E Street Cinema. Fandango or Home page.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
