While Canadian director Xavier Dolan caused some cinephiles to have an immediate opinion on his work, despite the fact he's had only one film released in the United States — 2010's "Heartbeats" — with his directorial debut finally getting a proper release stateside, dicussions on the merit of the young filmmaker will only continue.
Kino Lorber has stepped up and acquired the rights to "I Killed My Mother," Dolan's first film which he made at the age of twenty with some credit cards and savings from when he was a child actor. Though already released in Canada years ago, the film has been caught up in a long rights battle — which he explains here — after it was acquired by a dodgy U.S. distributor, but Indiewire reports the film is now in the hands of reputable world cinema veterans Kino Lorber. But let's get to the film. Dolan stars, writes and directs the picture, which chronicles the fractious relationship between a young teenager and his mother, all while he deals with coming-of-age as a gay youth. The directorial flourishes and tricks Dolan has shown in "Heartbeats"and his latest (and epic) "Laurence Anyways" (which still needs a stateside distributor) are on display here, but somewhat more restrained. Either way, it's a pretty great film and fans of Dolan's work will certainly be pleased.
No exact release date yet, but "I Killed My Mother" will get a theatrical run this fall before going to VOD and home video. To get a taste, here's the trailer for the film and yes, it's with subtitles.