Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A decade after the death of an American TV star, a young actor reminisces about the written correspondence he once shared with the former, as well as the impact those letters had on both their lives.
Xavier Dolan's English-language debut is an ambitious but uneven melodrama about celebrity, correspondence, and queer identity. The non-linear structure struggles to cohere, and the emotional payoff feels diffuse despite strong individual performances from Kit Harington, Natalie Portman, and others. Cinematography has Dolan's characteristic visual flair but feels more restrained than his French-language work. The premise is distinctive but the execution is overly sentimental and the ending underwhelms, failing to fully deliver on the film's thematic promise.