Tom at the Farm

In its setup and execution, Tom at the Farm, the fourth film from Québécois wonderkid Xavier Dolan, is pure Polanski. The title character (played by Dolan) is holed up in an isolated farmhouse with the family of his recently deceased boyfriend, Guillaume. He’s visiting for the funeral but the mother is under the impression that her youngest was straight, and Guillaume’s thuggish older brother Francis (Cardinal) wants to keep it that way.

A war of wills begins: Francis repeatedly beats Tom and sets him to work on the farm. Stockholm syndrome sets in and Tom becomes accustomed to his mistreatment. In fact, he starts to like it; you could call this a sadomasochistic romance.

Stylistically, Tom at the Farm is a huge departure from Dolan’s three previous features. Here he gets maximum voltage out of the material (a Michel Marc Bouchard play) by preferring elegant tableaux over his usual florid, music video-like flourishes. The result is a mean little absurdist thriller, and, by some margin, the best of Dolan’s work so far. [Jamie Dunn]