CANNES – Ira Sachs never makes it easy. He’s an auteur who works in cinematic frequencies that don’t always align with what an audience might expect. He may frustrate you with the most subtle choices that initially might feel, well, off. And yet, few filmmakers can ultimately reward you for your patience like Sachs can. About two-thirds into his latest opus, “The Man I Love,” there is a scene of thematic brilliance so striking it may resonate with you for days, perhaps weeks, after. And while Sachs’ vision is at the center of it all, this moment is also a stark reminder of Rami Malek’s considerable and we mean considerable talents. A gutsy and vulnerable version of the actor that has not graced anyone’s screens in at least a decade.
A world premiere at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, “The Man I Love” centers on a fictional “theater artist” known as Jimmy George (Malek) and the chosen family members who revolve around him. James is part of The Mechanicals, an experimental theater group whose next project is a live stage version of famed French Canadian playwright Michael Trembley’s little-known 1974 French qeer film, “Il Etait Un Fois Dans L’est (Once Upon A Time In The East).“ Jimmy is set for the lead role, a drag queen at the heart of the camp melodrama, his first performance since rejoining his colleagues after a prolonged hospital stay.
At his side, with the patience of an angel, is his longtime partner Dennis (Tom Sturridge, fantastic). A lover who quietly counts out Jimmy’s daily medication, makes sure he swallows every pill, and pulls him up from his descent into his late-night addictive vices. One of Sachs’ greatest strengths is depicting the tenderness of queer love, and in capturing Dennis’ love for Jimmy, he once again clutches at your heart.
Both men’s lives are rocked by the arrival of their new downstairs neighbor, Vincent (Luthor Ford, quite good). A young actor from the U.K., he begins to aggressively pursue Jimmy’s affections as though it were the free-wheeling sexual liberation era of the 1970s. You might assume he’d know better, but Jimmy is seduced by the attention. Vincent’s crush is an unexpected beam of light after a near-death experience from HIV related pneumonia. Although Sachs doesn’t reveal this important fact until Dennis finally confronts Vincent about his actions and much of the narrative has played out. You have either figured it out by then, or you haven’t.
Clearly not at full strength and fixated on exploring whatever freedom and life he has left, Jimmy begins to push his physical and emotional limits (an utterly liberated Malek is superb in these scenes). And Dennis, seemingly the only adult in the room, seems resigned to let the whole scenario unfold. It’s almost like he’s gone through this many times before.
Also circling Jimmy’s orbit is his sister Brenda (Rebecca Hall, stellar as always), who sees the end of her brother’s life as inevitable and is unsure how to deal with it. Her husband (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is compassionate, but doesn’t want Jimmy’s nephew to realize how close his Uncle may be to saying goodbye. He brazenly stops his son from recording Jimmy’s last message to his family, something they’d wish they had decades later.
Meanwhile, Vincent’s roommate, Leslie (Maisy Stella), gives the viewer a voice as she attempts to snap him into reality over the obvious dangers of being sexually active with Jimmy. Some of the characters’ decisions are difficult to swallow, and that’s a big one. You’ll find it hard to believe that Vincent would really be so ignorant of wanting to be with someone who was HIV positive, let alone someone diagnosed with AIDS. Especially considering the fear of infection at the time. But Vincent has fallen so hard, is so smitten, on the borderline of obsession, that he willfully takes the risk.
Along with co-screenwriter Mauricio Zacharias, Sachs was inspired to craft “The Man I Love” by the alternative performance scene of 1980s New York City and experimental theater collectives such as The Wooster Group and the Ridiculous Theater Company. But we only know this in retrospect. You are often left with more questions than answers. What part of New York is this? What year is this? In fact, until Dennis mentions the recent approval of the HIV treatment drug AZT (at least halfway through the film), you might think it takes place anywhere between 1981 and 1994. Instead, Sachs’ vision of the city in this era is distinctly framed for obliquity. He eschews even the most subtle of pop culture references (although Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” is heard briefly). This is a subculture of a subculture, but it’s a bubble world where, to a very select group of people, Jimmy is a bona fide star. And that’s all that matters.
Almost edging you along, Sachs keeps the confrontations and the inherent drama to a murmur. That is, until it coalesces in that one moment. A heartbreaking spectacle of an artist succumbing to his fate during a live performance. An actor struck by the realization that his memory, his ability to perform, is slipping away. Jimmy doesn’t want to go. Everyone is forcing him to go, and he wants to hold on. He’s not ready to leave the stage. In the wrong hands, this moment could have descended into melodrama. Never fear, Sachs and an absolutely astounding Malek wouldn’t dream of such a thing. Jimmy George isn’t going to go out like that. He wouldn’t dream of it. [B+]
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