Elliot Page Makes “Close to You” Work

Close to You (Dominic Savage, 2023) 3 out of 5 stars

In wintery small-town Canada, Sam visits home for one of the first times since transitioning to a man. While he feels more himself than ever, he must reassert his identity while his well-meaning family offers clumsy support and unpack the years that led up to it. Elliot Page (Flatliners), who leads his first film since coming out as trans, parallels Sam as he reenters his world and does it with incredible grace. Also contributing to the story and working as a producer for the film, Page clearly has a caring influence over it. What results is a narrative that feels very close to real life: tender and surprising, but also a little underwhelming and unresolved.

Close to You has a haunting atmosphere, but its characters are what truly linger. Sam is packed with conflict and shyness but is brave when he must be, and also quickly forgives. Page grounds him and makes him feel like someone you would know in your daily life. He’s complemented by the sweet presence of Hillary Baack (Past Future) as Sam’s old friend and love interest and the stirring performances of Wendy Crewson (Backspot) and Peter Outerbridge (The Oak Room) as Sam’s parents.

Many of the conversations between the characters are improvisational, and this makes for many of the film’s strongest moments. Director Dominic Savage (The Escape) has a talent for guiding each scene with a certain feeling and allowing it to reach its natural conclusion. The argument sequences, in particular, are impressively uncomfortable, even if some of the dialogue feels a little contrived. The quieter passages sustain this tension and navigated many difficult discussions with compassion.

But despite how captivating each individual scene is, it’s hard not to feel that the structure of the story could have been more balanced. The first and last parts feel out of place with the uneasy middle section, where each scene has a heaviness in the air. These sequences are the most memorable, but their relentless succession doesn’t give enough time to process them and let them fully make their impact. The other sections of the movie feel less necessary, and the long scenes of Sam walking feel like a failed attempt at imbuing the story with a slow and quiet atmosphere; it ends up feeling impersonal, instead. The shaky camerawork, likewise, is a distracting effort to create tension in a movie that is already full of it.

The middle section is also the strongest because that’s where it focuses most clearly on what is the soul of the story: Sam learning to be with his family again. When Savage strays from that, Close to You loses a lot of steam. And while Sam’s budding relationship is tender and moving, its presence in the story starts to feel out of place at a certain point. While Sam’s decisions regarding his family are understandable, the story runs out of ideas twenty minutes too early and the final moment lacks finality. And much like life, it lacks closure in the places it most desperately needs it.

Hannah Tran

Hannah Tran is a film critic and filmmaker from Las Vegas, Nevada. Hannah works as a film screener for the Las Vegas Film Festival and publishes an independent zine focused on highlighing Asian American filmmaking.