Laurence Anyways

Laurence, a writer and teacher in Montreal, tells his girlfriend Fred on his thirty-fifth birthday that he wants to live as a woman. The film follows the next decade, and its real question is whether the relationship can carry it. Xavier Dolan made it at twenty-three; it is his third feature. Melvil Poupaud plays Laurence and Suzanne Clément plays Fred. Dolan drew on the real life of Luce Baillairgé and dedicated the film to her; she died before it was finished. It played Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2012, where Clément won Best Actress and the film took the Queer Palm. It won Best Canadian Feature at Toronto and picked up ten Canadian Screen Award nominations including Best Motion Picture and Best Direction. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 84 percent with a fair consensus: ambitious for its three-hour running time, and finally carried by passionate performances. Who it is for: viewers who like Dolan's visual excess and long-form relationship stories. Who it is not for: anyone sensitive to length. It runs 168 minutes and some of the formal tricks repeat.