[It] not only invokes a common theme but represents an increasingly rare cinematic foray into the sort of complex and intentionally ambiguous material that may not play well at the box office but lingers with the viewer...

| Mar 16, 2023

Builds upon the promise of 2018’s Girl, confirming Dhont as a deft and empathetic chronicler of the tumultuous anguish and ecstasy of adolescence.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 5, 2023

An authentic study of loss, buttressed by two extraordinary child actors, and complemented by a handful of impeccable adult players, most notably Émilie Dequenne...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 4, 2023

Dhont’s visuals are strong and sumptuous and he coaxes spellbindingly naturalistic performances from first-time actors Dambrine and De Waele, but a gulf in tone separates both halves of his film.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 3, 2023

Dambrine’s performance is by some distance one of the most extraordinary by a child his age I’ve ever seen: tempered, tightly wound, as truthful as a flower.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 3, 2023

If you find it cathartic to sob over well-drawn characters, this sad tale is within hugging distance of being an absolute joy.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 3, 2023

Dambrine and De Waele deliver two beautifully intricate performances in which they convey the complexities of young male friendship.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 3, 2023

A coming-of-age-story that’s exquisite and heart-breaking. Take tissues, and probably not just the one box.

| Mar 2, 2023

Despite a hugely harrowing storyline, Close somehow musters the strength to take care of its audience and leave us with something beautiful and brave.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 1, 2023

Dhont has elicited remarkable performances from these striking boys after six months of rehearsals, establishing relationships and gradually introducing the camera so they became accustomed to it -- and they seem not to be acting towards it.

| Feb 24, 2023

[CLOSE] feels like a slow descent into depression, with grief laced throughout like a rising tide rather than a tsunami of sorrow.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 21, 2023

Close is a fresh, moving and unforgettable chronicle of masculine trust and devotion.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 16, 2023

Close is beautiful, sad, tender and wrenching, a towering achievement both at the level of craft and theme.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Feb 16, 2023

Out of the gate, I didn’t really buy this friendship: It seemed too idealized and overly aestheticized.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 15, 2023

It heightens the dramatic attention in a way that makes it less authentic than it ought to be.

| Feb 10, 2023

A riveting conclusion to a beautiful and very moving film.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 10, 2023

Dumbrine, an amateur in his first acting role, is a luminous presence who makes you feel every conflicting mash-up of love, resentment, and grief roiling beneath Léo’s skin.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 10, 2023

It’s clear from the beauty and rawness of Close that we’re long overdue for something exploring the closeness between young men.

| Feb 2, 2023

Dhont tells a familiar story in what feels like a fresh and urgently new way, with sensitivity, sadness and promising glimmers of hope.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 2, 2023

A moving and often sublime piece of small-scale filmmaking, told with uncommon empathy.

| Original Score: A- | Feb 1, 2023