‘Close’ Film Review: Gentle Coming-of-Age Drama Packs an Emotional Punch

Zack Sharf The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Four has included box office blockbusters like the billion-dollar grossing “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Madness” ($942 million worldwide and counting), plus the MCU’s first foray into television with hits like “WandaVision” and “Loki.” But what Phase Four has lacked for a majority of MCU fans is a sense of narrative drive and cohesion. As Variety’s Adam B.

is part of a larger plan.With each new project in this phase, which began last year with WandaVision, fans have wondered if the MCU was building toward a new “Endgame”-like event. But each time, the connections to the world at large have gotten fewer and farther between.

A version of this story about Laura Linney and “Ozark” first appeared in the Comedy & Drama issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.Looking back, it’s hard to believe there was ever a time in “Ozark” when Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) wasn’t in the driver’s seat. The Netflix drama kicks off when Wendy’s husband Marty (Jason Bateman) relocates his family to Missouri to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel.

RadioTimes.com. The director’s latest biopic clocks in at a runtime of two hours and 39 minutes.

car crash last Thursday left two actors dead and six members of the cast and crew injured.“We are deeply saddened by the tragic accident that took the lives of Ray Garduño and Juan Francisco González,” said a spokesperson for Netflix. “Our thoughts are with their loved ones and with those injured during this unfortunate accident.”A statement from Redrum confirmed media reports that the accident took place as the party was en route from Santa Rosalía, Baja California to the local airport.

Mel B is set as a judge for Season 2 of Paramount+’s drag queen singing competition Queen of the Universe. She joins returning judges Michelle Visage, Vanessa Williams and Trixie Mattel, along with Graham Norton, who returns as host. The series is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and World of Wonder, producers of the Emmy-winning RuPauls Drag Race franchise. Mel B takes over the spot held by Leona Lewis, who served as judge on the first season.

Dana Delany (Body of Proof) will join Sylvester Stallone in the new original series Tulsa King for Paramount+.

Netflix has released an official statement following the tragic death of actors Raymundo Garduño Cruz and Juan Francisco González Aguilar who were working on the series The Chosen One in Mexico.

Honoring her father. Alabama Barker shared a loving — and telling — tribute to dad Travis Barker on Sunday, June 19.

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So sweet! In honor of Father’s Day, Travis Barker offered a glimpse at the gifts he received from his stepchildren.

Elon Musk‘s child has filed papers to change her name and also, legally declare her gender identity.

Joy Behar is looking at the history of “The View” as the show celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars are marking America’s newest national holiday.

Gigi Hadid has shown that despite breaking up with Zayn Malik, the former couple remain on good terms and seem to be doing a great job co-parenting their 1-year-old daughter Khai.The 27-year-old supermodel shared a sweet tribute on Father’s Day, posting a throwback photo of her dad Mohamed Hadid with the caption “Happy Fathers Day to my sweet baba,” adding “I love you!”Gigi then went on to post a photo on Instagram Stories, of the 29-year-old singer playing with their daughter, writing “& to Khai’s baba!!!!”The pair split unexpectedly in September 2020 after it was reported that the singer had a confrontation with Gigi’s mom Yolanda Hadid. The ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ star claimed that Zayn pushed her into a dresser after having a verbal argument with her, telling her to “stay away” from their daughter.Zayn was charged with four criminal offenses of harrasment and pleaded no contest to in October 2021.

Wilson Chapman editorParamount+ has found its “Wolf Pack.” Armani Jackson, Bella Shepard, Chloe Rose Robertson and Tyler Lawrence Gray have signed on to play the leads of the streamer’s upcoming supernatural teen drama series.Although “Wolf Pack” revolves around werewolves and is developed for television by Jeff Davis, the series is unconnected to his former MTV series “Teen Wolf” or the upcoming Paramount+ film sequel. The series is instead based on the book series of the same name by Canadian horror author Edo Van Belkom. The show focuses on two teenagers who are caught in a wildfire and are wounded by a supernatural creature.

Shadan Larki “We Are Lady Parts” centers on an all-female Muslim punk band who are making music their way, building an audience, and balancing their personal life on and off stage.Costume designer PC Williams designed each woman’s wardrobe to honor her relationship with her faith while also using costume to act as an avenue for cultural and self-expression.The series, streaming on Peacock, follows five women— Amina (Anjana Vasan), the newly recruited lead guitarist; Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey), Lady Parts’ lead singer; Ayesha, (Juliette Motamed) Lady Parts’ drummer; Bisma (Faith Omole), the bass player, and Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse), the band’s manager.“All of these women are second-generation migrants, like me; I was born in the U.K., but my roots are from Nigeria and Ghana. When I was thinking about these four women, for me, it was about really trying to understand who they were culturally and marrying that with a London vibe,” Williams says.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterComedian Aida Rodriguez is stepping behind the camera to direct two installments of the comedy special series “Entre Nos” for HBO Max, Variety has learned exclusively.Rodriguez will direct a standalone special featuring comedian Ian Lara as well as a special featuring both Ralph Barbosa and Gwen La Roka. Barbosa and La Roka are the two winners of the HBO & NYLFF Latino Stand-Up Comedy Competition.

Beyoncé took the Beyhive and beyond by storm the previous week when she revealed through her new British Vogue feature that she was releasing new music.MORE: Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy looks identical to famous mom during rare appearance with Jay-ZThe superstar singer has now revealed that the album's first bit of new music, a song titled Break My Soul, will be released at midnight ET.VIDEO: Beyoncé's daughters Rumi and Blue Ivy are all grown-up in new videoHowever, the news came in a way that you'd almost blink and miss, as she made the announcement with the help of her bios on social media.Beyoncé changed the bio on each of her social media platforms to read: "6. BREAK MY SOUL midnight ET." While no other details of the album have been released, it could be possible that the song is the sixth from the tracklist.MORE: Beyoncé's twins Sir and Rumi steal the show in rare family photo with big sister Blue IvyFans quickly started taking over social media in a frenzy over the understated announcement, with one writing: "Beyoncé making Friday releases the industry standard and then turning around and releasing new music on a Tuesday again is peak Beyoncé behavior." Beyoncé announced the news simply by changing her social media biosAnother quipped: "Going to have a night shift when Beyoncé is dropping so there better be nothing to do while the song drops," while a third also said: "Beyoncé song drop at 12.

Grand Prix: (TIE) “Close,” Lukas Dhont; and “Stars at Noon,” Claire DenisJury Prize: (TIE) “The Eight Mountains,” Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch; and “Eo,” Jerzy SkolimowskiBest Director: Park Chan-Wook, “Decision to Leave”Best Screenplay: “Boy From Heaven,” Tarik SalehBest Actor: Song Kang Ho, “Broker”Best Actress: Zar Amir Ebrahami, “Holy Spider”75th anniversary special award: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, “Tori and Lokita”Camera d’Or (best first film): “War Pony,” Riley Keough and Gina GammellCamera d’Or, special mention: “Plan 75,” Hayakawa ChiePalme d’Or, Short Film: “The Water Murmurs,” Jianying ChenShort film special mention: “Lori,” Abinash Bikram Shah

Refresh for latest…: The 75th Cannes Film Festival draws to a close tonight as the main awards, including the Palme d’Or, are soon to be handed out in the Palais. Scroll down for the list of winners which is being updated as prizes are announced.

After taking home the Un Certain Regard Fipresci prize in 2018 for the trans-female ballet dancer feature Girl, filmmaker Lukas Dhont returned to home to find himself staring at the blank page for his next project.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticSPOILER ALERT: The penultimate paragraph of this review contains spoilers.Few of us are fortunate enough to have a friendship as intimate and effortless as the one shared by 13-year-old Belgian boys Leo (Eden Dambrine) and Remi (Gustav De Waele) in “Close.” That connection, and the responsibility that comes with it, is at the heart of Lukas Dhont’s sophomore feature, so subtle and sensitive in the first half, so devastatingly false from its tragic twist on. This beautifully evocative film, which hails from an openly queer director, offers as pure a portrait of innocent, innocuous same-sex affection as we’ve ever encountered on film.

CANNES – Lukas Dhont’s second feature, “Close,” starts off where most love stories end, and, in that respect, it begins with almost euphoric joy. Leo (Eden Dambrine) and Remi (Gustav De Waele) are the best of friends.

Belgium’s Lukas Dhont takes a deserved step up to the Cannes Film Festival competition with Close, only his second film — a minimalist melodrama that shows a definite growth in visual style but may be confronting to some with its deliberately unhurried, Eric Rohmer-esque aesthetic. The international success of Dhont’s well-intentioned debut Girl, about a young trans-female ballet dancer, was somewhat blunted in the U.S., where G.L.A.A.D. amplified complaints of misrepresentation on behalf of the trans lobby. Close is a much safer proposition, but may yet sail into choppy waters with its themes of youth suicide.

A24 has picked up North American rights to Lukas Dhont’s Close.

A24 has made another acquisition out of Cannes, acquiring the North American rights to “Close,” the next film from Lukas Dhont, which is set to debut tonight in the main competition at Cannes. Dhont is the director of 2018’s “Girl,” which won the Camera d’Or at Cannes, and the film stars Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele, and Émilie Dequenne, Léa Drucker, Kevin Janssens, Marc Weiss, Igor Van Dessel, and Léon Bataille.“Close” is described as a film about friendship and responsibility and follows two 13-year-old boys, Léo and Rémi, whose friendship suddenly gets disrupted.

Manori Ravindran International EditorGlobal streamer and distributor MUBI has struck again, this time snapping up select markets for Lukas Dhont’s keenly anticipated “Close.”MUBI has acquired the U.K., Ireland, Latin America, Turkey and India.The film stars Lea Drucker, Émilie Dequenne, Kevin Janssens and newcomers Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele. “Close” will receive its world premiere on Thursday at the festival, where it’s playing in competition.The film will be released theatrically followed by an exclusive MUBI streaming release.“Girl,” Dhont’s debut feature film, won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2018.

EXCLUSIVE: Mubi has acquired Lukas Dhont’s Cannes Competion entry Close for the UK, Ireland, Latin America, Turkey and India.

Gregg Goldstein Belgian director Lukas Dhont is in rare company. His 2018 Un Certain Regard debut, “Girl,” won the Caméra d’Or and three more Cannes prizes, besting the number of first-time feature wins from the likes of Steven Soderbergh and Steve McQueen. And while his rise has come with some controversy, he earned a place in competition with the May 26 Lumière gala premiere of his sophomore effort, “Close.” The story of two 13-year-old boys whose powerful friendship ends when their relationship comes under scrutiny “started from a very personal place,” says the out director, who penned the script with “Girl” co-writer Angelo Tijssens.