Tom à la ferme

A sexy and slick departure from his first three features, Dolan starred in and directed this feature based on an acclaimed play by Michel Marc Bouchard (Lilies), who also lent a hand to the screenplay. Dolan plays the titular character, a twist on the prodigal son archetype and Hitchcockian blonde-in-distress who drives deep into rural farming country to attend his lover’s funeral. Instructed under duress to keep his relationship secret from the spaced-out matriarch (Lise Roy), Tom must contend with the seething violence and sexual confusion of his lover’s mentally disturbed brother Francis (the hunky Pierre-Yves Cardinal). Even Tom’s BFF Sarah (a superb Évelyne Brochu as the erstwhile “beard” for the late boyfriend) falls prey to Francis’s erotic patriarchal spell; but before he can extricate himself, Tom must discover the secret that truly haunts the family’s past. Dolan was awarded for his first venture into the thriller genre (and adaptation) with Venice’s FIPRESCI Prize.