The impossibly young, immensely lauded Québécois filmmaker Xavier Dolan is close to the release of Mommy, his fifth feature since 2009. The fourth however, and one most relevant and intriguing to Shock, is still yet-to-be distributed. Where is Tom at the Farm?
Having won at Cannes Mommy, Laurence Anyways, Heartbeats and I Killed My Mother, Dolan is a wunderkind of world cinema and so his turn to psychothriller territory with Tom at the Farm was a thrilling one. Unfortunately, though its played the Toronto International Film Festival and Venice, Tom has yet to find an official release in the U.S.
Speaking to Thompson on Hollywood in anticipation of Mommys release this Friday, Dolan touched on the making of Tom at the Farm and admitted he doesnt understand why its not been acquired. “I’m very happy with the experience on that set,” says the filmmaker. “Tom was where I met with my greatest ally, the cinematographer André Turpin. But I just don’t understand. It’s such a short film. It’s a psychological thriller. It’s not like it’s a big gay movie that no one can watch. I don’t really get it.”
Dolan adds, “I don’t understand. I’m seeing all these movies that are politically engaged that you would consider a risk marketing-wise, and they have a broad release, or at least in all the biggest cities, and if [Tom] was only on VOD but it’s just nothing at all. I’m asking my sales agent and he’s being very elusive about it. I have to understand.”
From the 2013 TIFF program, Tom at the Farm follows Tom, a young advertising copywriter, who travels to the country for a funeral. There, hes shocked to find out no one knows who he is, nor who he was to the deceased, whose brother soon sets the rules of a twisted game. In order to protect the familys name and grieving mother, Tom now has to play the peacekeeper in a household whose obscure past bodes even greater darkness for his trip to the farm.
Find a trailer for Tom at the Farm below and join me in hoping well see this stark, eerie-looking film soon.
