Close2022

I put this on hold for almost three years because I knew that films set in schools—especially about kids and teenagers—are always heartbreaking and traumatic. People carry adult problems later in life because of the childhood trauma they experienced in school. If you ask me, school is an evil environment. People should just be homeschooled, period! I feel bad for the two kids in this movie because their friendship was so pure and innocent, yet it was taken the wrong way. The closeness between the two boys is questioned by their classmates, and that’s where the film’s main conflict begins. I’ve noticed—and not just in movies, but also in anime—that there’s this recurring idea that boys or men can’t be close friends without people reading something more into it. It’s always, “Oh, maybe they’re in love,” or “Maybe they’re a couple.” But that same kind of intimacy is never questioned when it comes to female friendships. It feels like there’s a double standard there, as if male friendships can’t exist without suspicion or subtext, and that says a lot about how we view masculinity and emotion. Schools aren’t a monolith, but it often feels like they were built to make us believe we are all the same. Even today, people are still afraid of what they don’t understand. When they meet someone different, they tear them apart. This movie may have received the Queer Palme and its filmmaker, Lucas Dhont, happens to be gay. However, I believe that this movie is not just about being queer, because people often try to label it as another LGBTQ movie, but to me, it’s more than that. It’s a deeply human story about how society can be cruel to what it doesn’t understand. This movie is heartbreaking, especially when you see it from a parent’s point of view. Emilie Dequenne was incredible here, and knowing that this was one of her last films before she passed away this year makes it even more emotional. It’s devastating to watch parents come to terms with the idea that their children will never get the chance to grow up and do extraordinary things—all because society made them feel unwanted.