Canadian director Xavier Dolan’s latest film It’s Only the End of the World is an intense, suffocating representation of the strained relationships within a family. The film won the Grand Prix at Cannes, the festival’s second most prestigious prize; however, it has divided critics and audiences alike.

The 27-year-old Canadian has already directed an impressive number of films for his age. Although Dolan is originally from Montreal, It’s Only the End of the World is set entirely in France. The film is adapted from a play of the same name by Jean-Luc Lagarce, a prize-winning French playwright, who died in 1995 from an AIDS-related illness.

It’s Only the End of the World tells the story of Louis-Jean, a well-known French dramatist who returns to his hometown after an absence of 12 years. We discover early in the film that he’s gay, terminally ill and has returned to announce his impending death to his family. Although it’s never revealed what he is suffering from, in light of the film’s theatrical origin, it is most probably related to AIDS.

The film features an all-star French cast. Gaspard Ulliel takes the lead as Louis-Jean, the dying prodigal son. Nathalie Baye impresses as Louis-Jean’s weary, sometimes doddery but thoroughly likeable mother. She wants her family to enjoy each other’s company but blazing arguments seem to arise despite her best efforts to quell them. Léa Seydoux is Suzanne, Louis-Jean’s punky, complicated sister. She smokes too much weed, is racked with insecurity and struggles to be taken seriously by her family members.

Vincent Cassel is impressively unlikeable as Antoine, Louis-Jean’s nasty older brother. He works as a tool-maker, resents his brother’s success and takes every opportunity to scream and shout, showcasing abusive behaviour towards his brother, mother, sister and wife. And finally Marion Cotillard is Catherine, Antoine’s nervous, quiet and suffering wife whose unintentional awkwardness is one of the film’s funnier aspects, notably when she announces to Louis-Jean that she has named her son after him because he, of course, won’t have any children of his own.

The cast is small enough for Dolan to get to the heart of the pressure cooker of family relationships. The film is structured so that we follow Louis-Jean as he arrives home, and then witness him in intimate conversation with each member of his family: first his sister, then his mother followed by his sister-in-law and finally his brother. We know there is unfinished business, skeletons lurk in the closet and the atmosphere remains tense throughout most of the film. These conversations culminate in a final family meal where a chaotic screaming match ensues marking the climactic end to the film.

The experience of watching It’s Only the End of the World is uncomfortable and claustrophobic, a reflection of the strained relationships which weave together the fabric of Louis-Jean’s family. The first sequence of the film follows Louis-Jean’s drive from the airport through winding countryside to his family home. After this, though, the locations are always intimate and stifling: the camera is either inside the family home, the garden shed, Antoine’s car or Suzanne’s bedroom. Dolan’s cinematographic approach stops us from breathing, intentionally entrapping the spectator inside Louis-Jean’s poisonous family home. The use of close-up shots limits the camera view such that the spectator feels that they are in the same room as the actors on screen. The cinematography is slick and cool but the scenes feel a bit disjointed and awkward in their assembly. 

It’s Only the End of the World is largely a story about Louis-Jean’s inability to express himself, to reveal his illness to his family and to tell them how he really feels. The excruciating dramatic experience is a profound reflection of the barriers that exist within family relationships. The characters are clearly deeply trouble and saddened by the state of their sorry family; however, they can’t seem to say anything to make it better. Even when hope shines through when Louis-Jean tells his family that he will visit more often and would like them to come and visit him, a screaming-match quickly follows. The family is doomed, trapped in its own vicious universe; the sentiment that the film leaves behind is pessimistic.

Dolan’s film is worth watching for the sheer intensity of the performances. It’s nicely filmed and well-acted, but ultimately unsatisfying. Too many questions are left unanswered , and the film may be just a bit too stylised for its own good. The glossy aesthetic comes at the expense of a gripping plot or storyline