‘Close To You’ (2024) Review – An Intimate And Empathetic Story That Needed To Be Told

The best thing about movies is the way you’re able to peek into the world of people from different backgrounds that you may otherwise never encounter. In the latest film from BAFTA-award-winning director, Dominic Savage, we’re taken into one of those worlds. We meet Sam (Elliot Page), a trans man living in Toronto. He’s returning home to Lake County, Ontario for the first time in 4 years for his father’s birthday. It is also the first time many of his family will have seen him since his transition. Needless to say, there’s a lot to discuss.

To some surprise, it goes smoother than one might’ve thought. Sam’s family is mostly respectful of his transition and do what they can to be accommodating. Even making sure to get his pronouns correct, which is shown to be slightly difficult for Sam’s mother, Miriam (Wendy Crewson), and even more so for his brother-in-law, Paul (David Reale). Throughout the film though, there are difficult conversations that need to be had. His sister Kate (Janet Porter) asks how they slept in the same room and didn’t know each other. And Sam’s father, Jim (Peter Outerbridge) is the most content with the situation, completely respectful of Sam’s identity whether he’s around or not, who’s just happy to have his child back. It gets messy and calamitous at times, but it’s all very natural.

This is due to the collaborative efforts between Savage and Page, who would often improvise dialogue while shooting. While this may seem to be a dangerous and chaotic technique, it helps each of the conversations flow more naturally from lively to emotional and back again, which is needed for such an anxious and difficult topic. This film feels like it was written primarily for Elliot Page, who himself recently transitioned and no doubt also had to have a lot of these same difficult conversations with family, friends, and business partners. He’s the only popular actor to publicly transition at a time when the issue has unfortunately become so divisive, which is why this film feels necessary.

There is often misinformation and fear-mongering in the world about trans people and it is vital to have stories that show people their humanity. That’s the way we achieve empathy and understanding through film. This is the lesson Savage and Page wanted to convey, and were thankfully, able to achieve. Along with the story of Sam’s acceptance with his family, there’s a love story as well. Sam reconnects with Katherine (Hillary Baack), an old high school friend whom he had romantic feelings for, only to discover that Katherine is married with two kids, but the love between them is strong and immediate. Once they decide to reconnect, their friendship quickly blossoms into a passionate romance. 

This plot echoes a lot of the themes throughout the film about Sam’s need for self-acceptance, a sense of family, and a desire for love. Through Katherine, Sam is realizing all the things he’s been afraid to pursue and the fears he let keep him from fully embracing who he is. Sam has been battling with the shame he had about leaving home but also accepts that he did the right thing and is actually where he belongs. Katherine is also going through the same thing. The two’s relationship parallels each other, but it also means that acceptance of their situation means having to face painful truths. 

There are a lot of tears in this movie, and it is to be expected. Accepting oneself, one’s family, and one’s happiness is a lot to cover in a single film, but Savage and Page manage. Anyone who has transitioned will see a profound sense of relatability in Sam’s character, and everyone else will get to see a world that for too long has been unfairly maligned, and maybe through this glimpse will begin to see people just as they are, as people. 

Close To You is currently playing in theaters courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.