The trailer of Matthias and Maxime (2019) by Xavier Dolan
What if Canadian director Xavier Dolan stopped making films? The hypothesis appears far-fetched since the 33-year-old artist seemed so involved in the films he directed. Yet, this is what he implied in an interview with the Journal de Montreal on November 20th. The director of I Killed My Mother (2009) explained: "I don't really want to do this job anymore. I feel weary. We are in 2022, and the world has drastically changed. Speaking for myself in that world, I no longer feel the need to tell stories and to relate my life. I want to spend my time with my friends and family. I want to shoot commercials and one day build a house for myself in the country when I have enough money saved. I don't say that in a sad way at all. I just want to live something else, new experiences."
Before a possible break in his career – or even an early retirement – Xavier Dolan will release his first series, available on the Canadian platform Club Illico on November 24th and later on Canal +. Entitled The Night Logan Woke Up, the adaptation of the play of the same name by Quebec playwright Michel Marc Bouchard takes us back to the 1990s. It features a trio including Mireille, her brother Julien, and their best friend Logan. The two boys are baseball champions while the girl dreams of being an actress, before an incident changes their lives. The plot then takes us thirty years later. Mireille, who has become a thanatologist, returns to her childhood home, where family and friendship dramas unfold.
Visually speaking, this psychological thriller about grief and self-acceptance should be quite dark and mysterious, according to the first images shared by Xavier Dolan on his Instagram account last summer. In the dramatic, almost horrific night shots, such as the funeral scene and the skeleton costumes, one can find the group of young actors who had already enacted the play on stage – Julie Le Breton, Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Éric Bruneau and Patrick Hivon. What if Xavier Dolan had signed a French version of Six Feet Under with the five episodes of The Night Logan Woke Up? In any case, the series might stand as his farewell letter.
