Skip to main content
Close to You film image

Close to You

This event has passed

Drawn home for the first time in a long time by his father’s birthday, Sam (Elliot Page) finds himself aboard a train out of Toronto hurtling towards a family he hasn’t faced since transitioning four years earlier. Onboard, he makes a chance encounter with an old friend, Katherine (Hillary Baack), and sparks instant chemistry, bringing long dormant feelings to the surface. At home, Sam is welcomed in as a brother and son, but unspoken tensions lace every interaction, as Sam struggles to navigate his family’s clumsy reaction to his transition, and long-festering tensions threaten to sever their relationship.

In his first feature film role since 2017, Elliot Page delivers a powerful and nuanced performance that effortlessly navigates the tumultuous emotional journey of Sam’s visit home. Director Dominic Savage (The Escape) uses improvisation to craft exquisite, small, conversational scenes between family members that renders them with remarkable depth and clarity. The film is an incisive family drama, a rich character study, and proof that Elliot Page is a generational talent.

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Elliot Page, Hillary Baack

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada/UK

Year

2023

Series

Showcase

Language

English

Film Contact
Content Warning

Gender or Sexual Discrimination

18+

At The Park

19+

At The Rio

100 min
Drama LGBTQIA2S+

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Executive Producer

Anita Gou, Sam Intili, Nia Vazirani, Matt Jordan Smith, Andrew Frank, Francine Maisler

Producer

Krishnendu Majumdar, Richard Yee, Daniel Bekerman, Chris Yurkovich, Dominic Savage, Elliot Page

Screenwriter

Dominic Savage

Cinematography

Catherine Lutes

Editor

David Charap

Production Design

Joseph Kabbach

Original Music

Dominic Savage, Oliver Coates

Director

Dominic Savage headshot

Dominic Savage

Dominic Savage is a BAFTA-winning filmmaker with a prolific list of TV credits. Dominic created, wrote and directed three seasons of the award-winning anthology drama series, I Am. Each film has been developed in collaboration with one of Britain’s leading female actors: Season one starred Samantha Morton, Vicky McClure, and Gemma Chan. The second series starred Suranne Jones, Letitia Wright and Lesley Manville. Most recently, Season 3 opened with a feature length film I Am Ruth starring Kate Winslet. It won two BAFTAs (Single Drama and Lead Actress) as well as a Royal Television Society award for Lead Actress.

Filmography: When I Was 12 (2001); Love + Hate (2005); The Escape (2017)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

M

Dir. Fritz Lang
110 min

A sophisticated and gripping suspense drama about the hunt for a child murderer, played with disturbing compassion by the great Peter Lorre. M was Fritz Lang's first sound film, and you can sense his excitement at the possibilities.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Wizard of the Kremlin

Dir. Olivier Assayas
156 min

This sleekly speculative political drama traces the inexorable rise to power of Vladimir Putin (Jude Law) through his unerring grasp of modern propaganda tech.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Amrum

Dir. Fatih Akin
93 min

Twelve-year-old Nanning (Jasper Billerbeck) sets himself a mission to secure bread and honey for his mother to snap her out of her depression. It is 1945. The war is all but lost, and such luxuries are not easy to find on the remote island of Amrum...

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Power of Restitution: The Spoils

Dir. Jamie Kastner
185 min

Join us for a special free screening of The Spoils, an acclaimed documentary about German-Jewish art dealer Max Stern, followed by a live panel discussion exploring the urgent and evolving global movement for art restitution.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Music Room

Dir. Satyajit Ray
159 min

Devan Scott continues his journey through the history of lighting. This week, he credits Indian director of photography Subrata Mitra for profound innovations that laid the foundation for ideas of motivated lighting + screening of The Music Room.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Everyone Is Lying to You for Money

Dir. Ben McKenzie
89 min

In which former OC star Ben McKenzie brushes off his economics degree and digs into the cryptocurrency conundrum. If bitcoin is truly all about transparency, how come no one can explain it?

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre