LFF 2013 - Tom At The Farm

As a young man still only in his mid-twenties, Xavier Dolan has certainly put in a hell of a lot of work to get where he is in the film industry. Having already directing a number of films and also starred in them, among others, he is an undeniable talent and continues to push the boundaries of filmmaking with strong subject topics and cutting drama. His latest film, Tom At The Farm, once again strikes with a difficult subject and shows off his incredible knack for standout films.

Tom (Dolan) is dealing with the emotional burden of losing his partner and looks to connect with his family, despite his partner's mother Agathe (Lise Roy) in the dark over her son's sexual orientation.  She owns a farm with her other son, Francis (Pierre-Yves Cardel), who incidentally knows of this secret, and is far from welcoming when Tom arrives to offer support.

With Agathe welcoming an additional face and help around the farm, Francis is quite the opposite, constantly threatening Tom and forcing him into precarious positions. As the façade continues with Sara (Evelyne Brochu) visiting as the 'girlfriend', tensions begin to rise and emotions head toward boiling point, with the fate of a family dangling on a knife edge.

Xavier Dolan's unique style of film direction continues to rear its head in what could be seen as one of his most ambitious and bold pictures so far in his glittering career. Presenting the audience with yet another homosexual-based drama riddled with emotional angst and truly vicious characters, Tom At The Farm is one film that singes itself into the brain and sticks their with a strong everlasting effect.

Intent on establishing the key characteristics of his protagonists, Dolan paints a very strong picture of each person involved in the proceedings and hammers home their reactions to the events unfolding with relative ease. From Dolan's very own Tom, whose depression and sorrow is clear for all to see, to Cardel's frankly horrible Francis, each individual is a presence when focused upon, and certainly provide the catalyst to drive the hard-hitting story on.

Dolan's turn as our main protagonist is commendable, conveying the sort of emotion you would expect from a character in his situation, while the physicality and harsh nature of Cardel's elder brother helps to create a situation in which us an audience often feel rather uncomfortable and unsettled. The pair battling with one another is helped along by a script that often stirs things up with some truly cutting dialogue and moments of true agonising awkwardness and painful scenarios. From Tom being cornered into a toilet cubicle, to a dance scene in a barn, the film's suggestive nature is as excruciating as the treatment Tom finds himself subject to, and really hits the audience hard.

It's the suggestive nature of the film that makes it so successful. Admittedly, at times, it does prove a little too much and not quite what we are looking for in such a drama, but when Dolan gets it right there are examples of great creativity in his emotional conveyance that really deliver the message.
Tom At The Farm will prove an excruciating uncomfortable view for many, with its powers of suggestion proving very unsettling at times. Despite this, director and star Xavier Dolan does counteract with powerful characters and a meaningful premise that once again shows his power of imaginative  cinema and cutting dialogue.