X
- 2015
- Not Rated
- Amplify
- 1 h 42 m
- 2015
- Not Rated
- Amplify
- 1 h 42 m
Summary After the sudden death of his lover, Guillaume, Tom (Xavier Dolan), travels from his home in the city to a remote country farm for the funeral. Upon arriving, he’s shocked to find that Guillaume's family knows nothing about him and was expecting a woman in his place. Torn between his own grief and that of the family, Tom keeps his identi...
Directed By: Xavier Dolan
Written By: Michel Marc Bouchard, Xavier Dolan
- 2015
- Not Rated
- Amplify
- 1 h 42 m
- 2015
- Not Rated
- Amplify
- 1 h 42 m
Tom at the Farm
67
7.5
Where to Watch
Summary After the sudden death of his lover, Guillaume, Tom (Xavier Dolan), travels from his home in the city to a remote country farm for the funeral. Upon arriving, he’s shocked to find that Guillaume's family knows nothing about him and was expecting a woman in his place. Torn between his own grief and that of the family, Tom keeps his identi...
Directed By: Xavier Dolan
Written By: Michel Marc Bouchard, Xavier Dolan
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 27 Critic Reviews
67
67% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
30% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 27 Critic Reviews
67
67% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
30% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
There's a dramatic cognitive dissonance at play, and Dolan takes for granted that the audience will be willing to suspend disbelief. That's where he missteps. In choosing not to build out Tom's psychological framework, Dolan risks alienating more than a few viewers.
Made of equal parts mourning and melancholy, mystery, and possibly madness, the striking Tom at the Farm showcases Dolan’s abundant talents at turning seemingly simple material into a taut, tough film.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 34 User Ratings
7.5
74% Positive
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
24% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 34 User Ratings
7.5
74% Positive
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
24% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Xavier Dolan really shows his chops in this film--a personal favourite of mine from his ever-expanding canon. Visually stunning, with an incredibly quiet yet harrowing storyline. He is a master of his craft!
Report
If Tom at the Farm is occasionally impenetrable as a drama, it’s seldom less than gripping as an exercise in suspense, especially when Dolan’s precise sense of timing revitalizes otherwise familiar moments.
It's certainly his best film.
It’s a claustrophobic drama that unfolds like a thriller, although its characters are so bizarre that sympathizing with them is difficult.
In the end, for all the plot tension and genre tastiness –underlined by some acidic colour photography and lighting that plays up sickly yellows and purples – there’s just something a little too mannered about the exercise.
The real thrills consist of one monologue brilliantly delivered by Manuel Tadros as a bar owner, and most of Gabriel Yared’s old-school orchestral score.
TOM AT THE FARM finally hits US theaters. And we are lucky to have it! Xavier Dolan's kind of latest (the film was actually made before MOMMY) is sexy, funny, creepy, romantic, and downright scary. This wonderful examination of self hatred, sexual confusion, and mommy love (again from Dolan) is pitch perfect until a last act that meanders and may leave you wondering what it was all about. But Dolan proves he is one of our great living directors. So TOM AT THE FARM is not perfect but still well beyond most of what you will see this year. And no matter how you react, you will be haunted.
Report
It is almost two years ago that I viewed ‘Tom at the Farm’ at the London Film Festival and between then, and it now finally getting some sort of US release, I have caught up with all Xavier Dolan’s other work. His films are all good and his best film ‘Mommy’ is outstanding. As a young director still in his mid-twenties his achievements are nothing short of phenomenal. Whilst his films are flawed he is still the most exciting and inspired director since Brian De Palma. His stories feel fresh; his visuals are bold and imaginative and his choice of music is exciting and provides maximum emotional impact.
‘Tom at the Farm’ is a real curiosity. Full of intrigue and menace which is underlined by Gabriel Yared’s effective score and recalls to mind the work of Bernard Hermann for Alfred Hitchcock. Tom has gone to visit the family of his deceased partner, but finds himself at odds with the dead man’s brother who is prone to violence. The character motivation for Tom is somewhat suspect as after the first violent encounter any normal person would be racing to the next town. Inferences are made that the brother is **** and the **** erotic undertones are never more present than when the two perform a tango together. This makes for a very strange scene indeed. As already mentioned, and as is usual in a Dolan film, music plays a key part. Michele Legrand’s hauntingly beautiful ‘The Windmills of your mind’, sung in French, opens the film promisingly, but is guilty of out staying its welcome. However, another song ‘Going to Town’ is far more successful in closing proceedings. For connoisseurs of the weird and the wonderfully original it is well worth seeking out, flaws ‘n’ all.
Report
Production Company
MK2 Productions,
Sons of Manual,
Arte France Cinéma,
Canal+,
Ciné+
Release Date Aug 14, 2015
Duration 1 h 42 m
Rating Not Rated
Tagline What you don't know WILL hurt you.
Awards
Jutra Awards
• 1 Win & 8 Nominations
Canadian Screen Awards, CA
• 8 Nominations
CinEuphoria Awards
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
