After a trio of stylish, deeply emotional films in “I Killed My Mother,” “Heartbeats” and the epic “Laurence Anyways,” Xavier Dolan has shifted gears somewhat for his fourth feature, “Tom At The Farm.” It seems the eye for visuals is still there, but an eerier tone and colder atmosphere pervades this thriller, and the first trailer has arrived to provide a tantalizing look at the picture.
Dolan takes the lead role in this one, playing Tom, who arrives to the funeral of his late boyfriend, only to tangle with his former lover’s family who had no idea their son was gay. And what emerges is a film that we compared to the work of Patricia Highsmith (“Strangers On A Train,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley“), that is both a thriller and a family drama, with Dolan bringing elements from those two genres to once again create his own unique picture. In our Venice review we wrote, “he’s not simply aping Hitchcock, Clement and Chabrol (to name but a few), but melding them with his existing style and concerns…it’s his most expansive and impressive work visually too, with the photography by Andre Turpin taking full advantage of the rural landscape and claustrophobic interiors.”
With aspect ratio shifting sequences (watch here) and more, it looks like another one to keep an eye out for. “Tom At The Farm” plays the Festival Du Nouveau Cinema this month, but no firm release date has been slated yet for Quebec. There is currently no U.S. distributor for the film. Watch below.