Elliot Page brings a fascinating biographical dimension to this intimate drama – The Irish Times

Dominic Savage won a Bafta for his collaboration with Kate Winslet on the Channel 4 series I Am, an anthology that allowed the writer-director to shape episodes around a group of actors that included Letitia Wright and Lesley Manville. This method underlies Elliot Page's first feature film Close to You, in which the actor plays Sam, a young trans man who returns to Canada to see his family for the first time in four years. It's complicated: “It's like I owe them so much,” he says.

The stunning young star of Juno and Whip It has developed into a fine actor. There is a palpable vulnerability in the opening scenes, when Sam meets his old high school girlfriend Katherine (movingly played by Page's The East co-star Hillary Baack) on the train to Lake Ontario. Rawness and heavy improvisation lead to mixed results when Sam arrives at his parents' house.

The familiarity and strangeness of the journey home, a popular theme among novelists, is heightened by new pronouns and vocabulary. Sam's mother Miriam (Wendy Crewson) blames herself for accidentally calling him “she” and struggles with memories of her little “girl.” Mostly, it's a safe place. Sam's father (Peter Outerbridge) praises his bravery and recalls Sam's unhappy life before sex reassignment surgery.

The film's most powerful scene is introduced by an insincere comment from Sam's transphobic brother-in-law Paul (David Reale). This is too much for the protagonist, who storms out of the house and seeks out Katherine. This relationship seems wonderfully authentic and was beautifully filmed by cinematographer Catherine Lutes.

Unfortunately, the budding romance lacks the dramatic depth and unease of Sam's childhood home, where everyone is trying too hard to say the right (or wrong) thing. “You didn't worry about me that much when I was actually unwell,” Sam tells his well-meaning relatives.

Page's closeness to the material gives this intimate drama a fascinating biographical dimension. The story may lack conflict and punch, but it's great to see Page back on the big screen.

Close to You will be in selected cinemas from Friday, August 30th

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