While Page brings a grace to the film, he is left fighting a losing battle in an otherwise dreadful family drama.
For the first several minutes of Dominic Savage’s Close to You, there is little to no dialogue as we are introduced to Elliot Page’s Sam. In the humble room that he is renting in Toronto, he awakens and gets ready for what is going to be a painful day ahead. However, at least for these opening moments, just simply getting to spend time with this character as he goes through his routine is a breath of fresh air.
From the moment Sam subsequently steps into his childhood home after taking a train ride from Toronto to Cobourg, the tension coming from the family begins bearing down on him. Even the more well-intentioned family members seem to want something from him. Sometimes, it is forgiveness for not being supportive of him through hard times and the subsequent mistakes still being made in the present. In others, it is an explanation for why he left and who he is now.
Page’s Performance Gets Lost in the Shuffle of 'Close to You' If you look closely, there is a well-intentioned core to this as Savage wants to shine a light on how callous and entitled cis people can be around a trans person who is just trying to exist. The trouble is that it takes on an unrelentingly blunt approach that becomes punishing for both Sam and the audience.
'Close to You' Remains Too Confined a Film All through the scattered experience, Page is a shining light. Every move he makes gives the film something greater that it is never able to grasp. Instead, it all slips away into repetitive conversation scenes that are clunky rather than resonant. When all the noise quiets, there are moments that start to feel much more authentically transcendent and reflective.