Sixteen years ago, Elliot Page took the Toronto International Film Festival by storm as the breakout star of Jason Reitman’s Oscar-nominated comedy, Juno. Flash-forward to 2023, and the actor returned to TIFF for his latest film, Close to You — Page’s first leading man role since coming out as transgender in 2020.
The movie’s director, Dominic Savage, confirmed that the movie is very much rooted in Page’s own journey.
“This film was made with Elliot, for Elliot and because of Elliot,” the filmmaker said ahead of Close to You’s Sunday world premiere, which Yahoo Entertainment attended.
Page himself also attended the premiere — one of the few actors who appeared on a TIFF red carpet amid Hollywood’s dual strikes by the Writer’s Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild.
After the screening, the actor took the stage to cheers and applause from the audience and called the film, “one of the most incredible experience of my career.”
Close to You casts Page as Sam, who is returning to his hometown of Cobourg, Ontario, for his father’s birthday after four years in Toronto. It’s not going to be an easy homecoming: after battling depression for most of his adolescence, Sam has found happiness as a trans man. But his family is still wrestling with his evolution, and the lingering tensions are evident as soon as he walks through his front door. His mother accidentally misgenders him, and berates herself for her mistake; his older sister confesses that she feels as if she doesn’t know him; and his brother-in-law makes openly bigoted comments and offers half-hearted apologies under duress.
At the same time, Sam also experience moments of love and joy. Both his mother and father are fully supportive of his transition, and tell him how proud they are that he’s living his truth. And Sam also reconnects with his high school crush, Katherine (Hillary Baack) — a reunion that stirs long-buried feelings within both of their hearts. And it’s Katherine who really sees the person Sam always was.
According to Page, the Sam and Katherine relationship was the jumping-off point for his early conversations with Savage.
