By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Sophie Dupuis
Starring: Anne-Marie Cadieux | Félix Maritaud | Marc-André Leclair | Theodore Pellerin | Vlad Alexis
Year: 2024
Running time: 101
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27715185/reference/
Chris says: “Simon (Théodore Pellerin), a talented young performer in Montreal’s close-knit drag community is immediately smitten by Oliver (Félix Maritaud), a fellow drag queen freshly transplanted from France. They pursue a whirlwind romance while also collaborating together onstage, although their vast differences in temperament cause more conflict and drama than anything resembling a healthy personal or professional relationship. Meanwhile, Simon still courts the attention of his mother Claire (Anne-Marie Cadieux) who long ago left his family behind to become a renowned opera singer. This premise has some potential, but not with such one-dimensional characters (Simon is a doormat, Oliver is a prick.) The more glaring problem, however, is that writer-director Sophie Dupuis brings little new to this type of narrative. It’s set in the present, but SOLO could’ve easily come out twenty or thirty years ago; sure, the costumes and drag performances (Pellerin deserves a better vehicle) are lively and entertaining, but it’s a shame to waste them all on a story so wafer-thin and by now overly familiar—I’ve already seen RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE UNTUCKED, thank you very much. 2 cats
“Screened at TIFF 2023, where it was awarded Best Canadian Film(!); no US distribution.”