We got a first look at festival favourite Xavier Dolan’s latest, Mommy, at last year’s Cannes. It’s taken nearly a year for the film to reach our cinemas, but it’s due next month and there’s a trailer online to prove it.
Mommy is the story of Diane “Die” Després (Anne Dorval), a Quebec widow who, at the beginning of the film, collects her son Steve (Antoine-Olivier Pilon) from a care home. Steve is a dropout and a delinquent, it seems, but soon we learn that he suffers from an extreme case of ADHD, which poses greater and greater and problems for Diane. It’s a tough time for both of them at least until shy neighbour Kyla (Suzanne Clément) gains Steve’s trust and becomes a close friend and helper.
Dolan, who serves as writer, producer, director, editor and costume designer here, shoots everything in close-quarters to maintain the feeling of family intimacy and a peek into Steve’s world. With Patrick Hurd, Alexandre Goyette, Viviane Pascal and Natalie Hamel-Roy in the cast, Mommy is out here on March 20.