I Killed My Mother

In this remarkably accomplished 2009 debut, then-20-year-old Montreal filmmaker (and former child actor) Xavier Dolan stars as a gay teenager who finds his mother especially irritating. The way she hums, eats, applies lipstick—everything that Chantale (Anne Dorval) does grates on Hubert's nerves. "When I try to imagine the worst mother in the world," he tells her, "I can't do better than you." In order to wriggle out of an assignment involving his parents, Hubert tells his teacher, Julie Cloutier (Suzanne Clément), that his mother is dead, which infuriates Chantale when she finds out (Hubert remains in contact with his divorced dad, but they aren't close either). In his spare time, Hubert hangs out with Antonin (François Arnaud), whose hipper mother lets the lads decorate a wall at her advertising agency in a Jackson Pollock style. Chantale has no idea that the two boys are more than friends, but seems more relieved than surprised when she finds out, since it helps to explain Hubert's volatile behavior. Still, she ships him off to boarding school, where he befriends a handsome classmate, while continuing to see Antonin on the weekends. I Killed My Mother has a very autobiographical feel, particularly when Hubert videotapes himself talking about Chantale in transitional segments between scenes. As events play out, Hubert will ultimately not be able to escape the fact that he's actually more like his mother than anyone else in the world. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)