Somewhere in the Canadian countryside, a mother mourning the death of her younger son is visited by the son’s male lover on the eve of the funeral. The elder son bullies the visitor not to reveal the deceased’s sexual orientation to the grieving mother; so, the lover comes up with an imaginary story of how her son was in love with a girl back in the city. He even arranges for a common female friend to come over and act as the deceased’s girlfriend – who turns out to be a no-nonsense woman who will not put up with the bullying ways of the homophobic elder son.
Director Xavier Dolan, who also plays Tom, the young gay lover, examines small town prejudice and homophobia in this excellent film with a restrained and sure hand. Xavier Dolan, who was born in 1989 has an impressive filmography as a writer, director and actor; he debuted at the age of 20 with I KILLED MY MOTHER (2009); since then, he has made 8 more films in all of his 32 years. Profusely awarded, he is a veteran of important international film festivals and is counted amongst the most significant contemporary auteurs.
TOM AT THE FARM (2013) – along with his LAURENCE ANYWAYS (2012) is streaming on MUBI.
Ranjan Das is a Mumbai based filmmaker and faculty
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