Xavier Dolan is a 26-year-old French-Canadian writer/director whose first film I Killed My Mother, a semi-autobiographical story about a young gay man at odds with his mum, has superficial parallels with his latest, Mommy.

In this case, it’s again about a youth clashing with his mother although not because of his sexuality but rather because he suffers from an extreme case of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); and it’s not for the faint-hearted. It is the most profound emotional experience, provoking both negative emotions and, at the same time, feelings of deep sympathy.

Shot in a square 1:1 ratio, which creates a stifling, claustrophobic atmosphere that possibly represents the15-year-old boy’s blinkered world view, the film begins three years after the death of Diane ‘Die’ Després’s (Anne Dorval) husband; while adapting to life as a widow, Die has placed her rambunctious son Steve (Antoine Olivier Pilon) into a centre for kids with behavioural problems.

The film opens at the point where Steve is kicked out of the house (even the professionals can’t handle him) so Die decides that she’ll take care of him at home before he becomes too institutionalised. We are left in no doubt that there is an abundance of unconditional love between mother and son but Die is an emotional wreck herself, struggling to deal with the ‘real’ world and the problems of finding a job, a place to live and the volcanic personality she lives with. Steve’s love for his mother is excessive but, despite this, his ADHD makes him liable to lose control at any given moment. These moments are harrowing to observe and the hopelessness of the situation leaves you gasping for air. This is about as tough as it gets.

Die befriends a neighbour, Kyla (Suzanne Clément), and together the two women try to give Steve a sense of stability. Left virtually mute by a vague trauma, Kyla is a high school teacher on sabbatical who has just moved into town. The interesting fact is that she manages to overcome her speech impediment when she is in Die and Steve’s company. Kyla seems to fill the void between mother and son and Steve becomes reliant on her but things start to spiral out of control and it becomes necessary to once again seek professional help for Steve.

Dolan gets right to the emotional heart of this ménage in his unflinching script. He manages to wring every last piece of emotion out of his characters and takes his audience along for the ride as well. It is interesting to note that he has worked with Clément and Dorval previously and with both in I Killed My Mother. Dorval in particular is extraordinary; her performance reminded this reviewer of Gena Rowlands’s Oscar-nominated role in John Cassavetes’s 1974 film A Woman Under The Influence. It’s that powerful.

Still, it’s hard to single out any one of the three leads; all are magnificent and Pilon, though young, is a revelation. At one point, and only for a moment, Steve feels some happiness and physically pushes open the frame to expose the full screen ratio. It doesn’t last long but it has a profound effect. Dolan has said, “…the actors I admire, and with which I love to work, always put the concrete reality they’ve known and observed forever to the service of a movie. And to me, that’s always been what’s typical of great actors: they create characters, not performances.”

This is a film that you will either love or hate but one thing’s for sure, you won’t be able to dismiss either the characters or the performances.

// SALT

Previewed at Sony Theatre, Sydney, on 4 February 2015