ShangLuda Admirable film.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

To_au84 I have never disliked a character more than I disliked Hubert. Whiny, self-righteous, disrespectful brat. His self entitlement overtakes the majority of the movie and I just mentally switched off. I just wanted to give him a smack for the whole movie. Anne Dorval did a brilliant job as the mother.

lefkiosvanrooy Xavier Dolan's directorial debut talks about the relationship between a single mother and her gay son, and heavily draws experience from the director's personal relationship with his own mother. The semi-autobiographical nature of the film is apparent in the authenticity and raw emotion expressed between the characters like the frustration and endless friction that comes from a relationship like this. It is refreshing to see this topic being explored through the eyes of a young adult, whose thoughts and opinions on the matter are still fresh and unaltered by time and circumstances that life brings. Dolan is young enough to remember well the feelings of overwhelming frustration to the level of almost hate experienced by a teenager having to deal with a difficult and sometimes intolerable mom, and at the same time is old enough to portray this relationship with some maturity and understanding of the mother's point of view. The result is a movie that will hit home to many people that have lived with their single mom in their teen years. For them this movie could be seen as a portrait of the relentless, absurd cycle of fights and tantrums, that while they may have seemed unbearable at the time (the character says that whoever does not admit hating their mother at one point in their lives is lying), are now viewed with a more comedic spin as to how insignificant they would often be.

Red_Identity It's initially shocking to just know how old the director was when he made this film. If there are any other directors making films at such extraordinary young ages, I need to be reminded or informed because that to me is a true feat. The amount of psychological trauma and depth being handled here, and the exquisite writing really make this not just an excellent debut for a 20 year old, or an excellent debut, but just an overall excellent film. Definitely most similar to his most recent Mommy, this is a true psychological drama that very much plays out like some kind of horror story to many no doubt. The performances are excellent and it's highly recommended viewing.

andredejongh Wow... what can I say... I first saw Xavier Dolan's movie "Les Amours Imaginaires" which I rather loved. Without knowing Dolan's name, or knowing he was the guy also acting in the movie. But that film was so lyrical and full of visual poetry. And then this first movie of his: "J'ai tué ma mère"... has twice the intensity of Les Amours Imaginaires. It is all just so heart felt, so open so totally vulnerable. And yet so confident. I envy Xavier Dolan. The man has a talent, a voice that has to be heard. And already at his age. The man is a true artist. I have never seen such a beautiful movie about a young man, not yet of legal age, who is trying to be his own man, who is trying to find his own identity apart from his emotional incapable mother. They stopped being mother and son long ago and became more of a married couple with their petty little fights. She wanting to control her son by unconsciously manipulating him, as if he was her equal partner (i.e. her divorced husband), instead of a young boy that still needs love and guidance. At the end it becomes clear that his lover Antonin whom Hubert declares his love to, is in a way a male version of his mother. He only says 'je t'aime' to the guy when he, just like Hubert's mother, is picking him up by his car, brings his clothes and is declaring that he feels like some servant and that Hubert does not care about what will happen to him at school etc.. Hubert subconsciously recognizes this behaviour from his mother and it is then, when he declares his love for Antonin.And Hubert's mother finally stands up for her son, and thus is really, actively declaring her love for him when she tells the director of the boarding school what she really thinks of him, and thus giving her son actual motherly support.Anyway... Lots more could be written about this movie. The only thing left to say: the man has a given talent. He has an amazing visual and symbolic sense and he knows his way with strong emotions. And in a way this movie reminds me of the emotional realism of Mike Leigh's movies, only probably without the improvisation Leigh permits his actors. And Xavier Dolan puts in lots of visual, lyrical, poetic aesthetics with lots of references to religion, arts and cultural history. A beautiful coming of age movie. To be seen by every male or female, gay or straight, who tries, or tried in the past, to set him or herself free from a dominant parent in order to become an independent free acting man or woman with room left to breathe and to love back his/her parent(s).