The glittering “Solo” facilities on Simon (Théodore Pellerin), a captivating 20-something making a reputation for himself as a drag queen in Montreal. Simon’s life is glamorous and crammed with loving help from the opposite performers who work at his nightclub; and from his household, notably his older sister, Maude (Alice Moreault), his confidante and a dressing up designer who makes attire for Simon’s drag alter ego, the blonde bombshell Glory Gore.
The third collaboration between Pellerin and the writer-director Sophie Dupuis (“Household First”), the movie takes a flip from its blissful beginnings when Simon, starry-eyed and tragically naïve, opens his coronary heart to questionable figures. His mom, Claire (Anne-Marie Cadieux), a well-known opera singer who deserted the household years in the past to pursue her profession, re-enters Simon’s life. Then there’s the gaslighter, Olivier (Félix Maritaud), a brand new queen on the membership whom Simon begins courting.
Bitter disappointments and merciless manipulations appear to conspire to dim Simon’s mild and idealism — his mom proves distant and superficial, slicing their meet ups laughably brief. Then Olivier isolates Simon from his household, takes credit score for his rise within the drag scene and smothers his confidence.
Simon’s drag performances, captured with luxurious visuals, are peppered all through these intrigues, permitting us to register his anxieties by way of the lens of his act. Earlier than an viewers, the tensions between him and Olivier, with whom he performs as a duo, are magnified; so is the agitation brought on by his mom, his creative function mannequin, when she lastly attends considered one of his exhibits.
“Solo” is a refined snapshot right into a homosexual man’s profound but acquainted upheavals. Simon’s drag spectacles could also be deliberately fierce and operatic, however there’s one thing refreshing about this drama’s intimate scale and lack of curiosity in sweeping tragedies, particularly within the context of queer cinema.
Solo
Not rated. Working time: 1 hour 41 minutes. In theaters.
