Solo
Canada’s Sophie Dupuis takes on the world of Montréal’s drag artists in her atmospheric romantic drama.
Image courtesy of Peccadillo Pictures.
In 2021 I reviewed the French-Canadian film Souterain released in the UK as Underground. It was the first time that I had encountered the work of Sophie Dupuis and it introduced me to the actor Théodore Pellerin whom I picked out as an actor to watch. Since Pellerin had worked for Dupuis earlier in her 2018 piece Chien de garde, it is hardly surprising to find that Solo, the latest offering from Dupuis, has Pellerin in the leading role. But almost everything else about this film is unexpected. Underground was a drama set in a mining community and Pellerin played an ex-miner who had suffered incapacitating injuries in a car accident. In total contrast to that Solo takes place in Montréal and is a celebration of the world of drag queens of whom Simon, that being Pellerin’s role, is one. Consequently, this film gives the actor a complete change from his earlier roles, and it is no less striking that Solo is one of the few films centred on gay men to have been written and directed by a female writer/director.
However, the novel character of Solo does not end there in that even today the majority of films featuring gay characters portray the tensions that arise because of their sexuality. While coming out tales frequently centre on fears of rejection by family members, other dramas regularly reflect the homophobia that can still be encountered in many societies or portray gay life in countries where homosexuals are hounded. The absence of any such elements here means that Solo is possessed of a sense of freedom and ease which is rarely present in gay movies.
But, if Solo relishes its portrayal of clubs where drag is regularly part of the entertainment and adds to its sense of authenticity by including in its cast a number of actual drag performers, it does find drama by incorporating into its portrait of this scene a love story that starts to go awry. At the outset Simon is already a seasoned artist at the club featured, his work there approved by family members including his sister Maude (Alice Moreault) a dress designer happy to make costumes for him. No one is closer to Simon than Maude, but the arrival on the scene of Olivier transforms Simon's life. Olivier (Félix Maritaud) hails from France and also being a drag queen is welcomed at the club. He and Simon quickly start a relationship. Olivier will describe it as a case of love at first sight, but it is Simon who is patently well and truly smitten and he finds it difficult to accept Olivier's view that having one-night stands (or more) with others is fine because they do not challenge his love for Simon. If that creates tension, so does the competitive nature of the performers: quite quickly Simon persuades Olivier to join him as an on-stage duo but he possibly likes to be the dominant partner in their act and is later put out when Olivier declares that he wants to perform as a solo artist as well.
If the relationship between these two is the central dramatic thread, there is nevertheless another one in that Simon and Maude have a mother, Claire (Anne-Marie Cadieux), who is a successful opera singer and who to pursue that career in Europe has walked out of their lives. With virtually no contact for fifteen years, Maude refuses to meet her when an engagement to perform in La bohème in Montréal brings Claire back to that city. But, her long absence notwithstanding, Simon clearly needs the reassurance that his mother does indeed love him and he will seek to contact her during her visit.
In fact, while the two aspects are interwoven, Solo is to be seen both as a positive portrait of drag artists and as a study of a gay man’s inner insecurity as evidenced in Simon's relationships with both Olivier and Claire. When it comes to all the club episodes the film is a great success. Many popular songs are heard on the soundtrack, there’s an abundance of colour on stage (especially through the contribution of costume designer Cédric Quenneville) and the positive energy which flows through these scenes undoubtedly makes Solo a must see for those gay viewers who delight in the drag scene. When it comes to the personal tale, there are good things here too, although the results are more mixed. If Pellerin triumphs again, Félix Maritaud’s Olivier is no less convincing and, while the approach taken by Dupuis virtually excludes sex scenes and nudity, she and her two lead actors establish a strong sensuality whenever Simon and Olivier are intimate as witness the shots of them kissing. Being writer as well as director, Dupuis is also able to bring an individual flavour to the film often favouring short scenes and sketching in the developing narrative deftly while also keeping the club atmosphere a central feature.
Where the film is less successful is in the writing, both in certain details that are lacking and in the failure to make the denouement more persuasive. Although the friction that develops between the lovers is convincing, the way in which Simon starts to fall apart needs further elaboration to be fully effective and his characterisation lacks clarity at times. For the most part he is presented sympathetically and, when Olivier reveals Simon’s cruel remarks about an aging performer, it feels out of character although it could be that Olivier is lying about what was said. But either way it is not filled out enough. Even more crucially, Sophie Dupuis opts for an upbeat conclusion following a key scene between Simon and his mother but fails to lead into it in a manner that makes it feel likely. However, even if Solo sometimes falls short, it is excitingly distinctive in many ways and it captures the drag scene in Montréal in a spirited tone which will endear it to any audiences who have been waiting for a movie capable of achieving that kind of rapport.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Théodore Pellerin, Félix Maritaud, Alice Moreault, Vlad Alexis, Anne-Marie Cadieux, Tommy Joubert, Jean Marchand, Marc-André Leclair, Roger Léger, Josée Deschênes, François Dagenais.
Dir Sophie Dupuis, Pro Etienne Hansez, Screenplay Sophie Dupis, Ph Mathieu Lavardière, Pro Des Elise de Bois, Ed Marie-Pier Dupuis, Dominique Fortin and Maxim Rheault, Music Charles Lavoie, Costumes Cédric Quenneville.
Bravo Charlie-Peccadillo Pictures.
102 mins. Canada. 2023. US Rel: 24 May 2024. UK Rel: 19 September 2025. Cert. 15.
