Keswick Film Festival

Synopsis

Xavier Dolan is only 25 years old and this is already his fifth film. The critics either love or hate him - some seem to love TO hate him - but all say this is his best film to date and drench it with universal praise:-

"Dolan's latest, is his funniest. It comes at you baying and rattling like an early Pedro Almodóvar comedy, threaded through with an infectious love of full-throttle melodrama" - Tim Robey, Telegraph

"This is easily Dolan's best film, and it's exciting to think how many times we might have to revise that statement over the years to come" - David Ehrlich, Little White Lies

The story is about the power of love, and its limits; when does a child behave so badly that a mother cannot cope any longer? Set in a fictional slightly future Canada where a law has been passed allowing parents the right to institutionalise their children without a court ruling, Diana (Die) has this choice hanging over her with a son, Steve, pushing the limits every day.

She appears to be saved by a new neighbour, Kyla, who steps into their world and brings some sanity with her; or at least she seems to; the trio help each other, all is looking rosy... but can it last?

The actors all get great reviews - Antoine-Olivier Pilon as the over-the-top Steve, Suzanne Clément as Kyla and, especially Anne Dorval as Die - while Dolan himself won a Jury Prize at Cannes.