It's Only the End of the World

b.r.i.l.l.i.a.n.t! I saw this movie at TIFF on Sept. 17 and it was the first Dolan film I've seen. It deserves the award it received at Cannes! Despite all the shouting and intensity, this film conveys with subtlety, suggestive dialogue and glances, the range of emotions felt by different members of a family when there has been an unexplained loss of another family member. Even though the main character, Louis, is still alive and returns to the family, they react as if he has returned from an unexpected death. They range from guilt, rage, idealization, and denial.The close-up filming style also reveals each family member's pain in intimate detail. Dolan is brilliant in his interpretation of that family's deep pain and Louis's coming to terms with not only his own impending death but the "death" the family already has had to deal with when he went away the first time.