Writer and Director: Sophie Dupuis
Théodore Pellerin is phenomenal as the drag queen Glory Gore in the 2023 Canadian film Solo, which finally receives a very limited release in the UK. As Glory Gore onstage and Simon when off it, Pellerin, who was recently seen in Beau Is Afraid, gives a heartrending performance as a young man caught in two toxic relationships. His face full of tragedy as he prepares to go on as Maria Callas is worth the ticket price alone.
Simon works in a drag bar in Quebec, wearing the dresses that his sister Maude has created. He lip-syncs while looking fabulous and fierce. His first song in the film is ABBA’s Voulez-Vous, and there are many camp classics to come, such as tracks by Chaka Khan and Donna Summer. He’s the star of the show, but his focus shifts when new boy Olivier arrives to join the cabaret troupe.
They fall in love quickly with rom-com montages of time swiftly passing, which occur in the first 20 minutes, but it soon becomes apparent that this is no rom-com after all. The dashing Olivier soon reveals a darker side underneath his smattering of tattoos and the previous night’s glitter. He’s a little hostile to Maude but overflowing with charm when he meets Simon’s father and stepmother at a Sunday brunch. It’s only Maude who suspects Simon is a victim of coercive control.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Simon is also having issues with his mother, a famous opera singer who spends most of her time in Europe. When she announces her imminent arrival in Quebec, Simon is desperate to see her, willing to forget any sense of abandonment he may have felt when younger. Maude, however, is not so eager to forgive. And perhaps Maude is right, as the diva chooses not to turn up to her first meeting with Simon, preferring to rehearse instead. Meanwhile, Olivier’s hold on Simon tightens.
Pellerin is a compelling actor, nervously optimistic and artless as Simon, confident and glamorous as Glory Gore. While untouchable on stage, Simon is vulnerable once most of the make-up is removed and the frocks put back on their hangers. Pellerin illuminates cautious hope and hurt in equal measures. As Olivier, Félix Maritaud (who was so excellent as the hustler in 2018’s Sauvage) is dangerously persuasive.
Writer/director Sophie Dupuis balances the drama with backstage gossip amongst the other drag queens who party all night. And yet, there’s compassion here, too, in their nightly bitchfests, which, despite the film’s heavy material, ensure that Solo’s main narrative is concerned with resilience and survival, even if it means the journey that entails should be taken alone. The end may be triumphant, but it is layered with a bittersweetness that makes Glory Gore’s final song particularly poignant.
Solo is in UK and Irish cinemas from 19th September.
