Tom at the Farm () is a 2013 Canadian psychological thriller film directed by and starring Xavier Dolan. The film is based on the play of the same name by Michel Marc Bouchard, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dolan. It was screened in the main competition section at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in 2013, and also at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
At Venice, the film won the FIPRESCI Prize. Tom at the Farm was also nominated for eight Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture.
Plot
When his boyfriend Guillaume dies at 25, Tom, a youthful advertising editor from Montreal, visits Guillaume's rural community to deliver a eulogy at the funeral. He meets Guillaume's mother Agathe Longchamp, who does not know Guillaume was gay and that Tom was his lover. When Tom agrees to stay at the farm house, he is surprised when Agathe tells him Guillaume has a brother, Francis. Later that night, Tom is awakened by Francis, who menacingly says he knew Tom would come, and tells him to give an agreeable eulogy and not to posthumously out Guillaume, to please Agathe. At the funeral, Tom belatedly decides not to speak, and music is played instead. Francis afterwards confronts Tom in a bathroom stall about the mishap. At the farm home, Tom tells Agathe he made his decision because he was dissatisfied with the writing quality of his eulogy. Agathe knows Guillaume had a lover, but believes it was a young woman, Guillaume and Tom's co-worker Sarah. Tom reads his eulogy on the pretence that Sarah wrote it, and makes hints at Sarah's sexual habits.
Although the funeral has passed, Tom remains at the farm and begins helping Francis with the chores, particularly milking and calving. Francis remains intense towards him, although they dance in the barn, and Francis tells Agathe they named a calf Bitch Ass, in Tom's honour. One night, Francis arrives at the farm house and is surprised to find Sarah with Agathe. When alone with Sarah, Francis deduces Tom has contacted her and persuaded her to come to the farm and pose as Guillaume's girlfriend, attacking and making threatening sexual advances on her. Sarah meets with Tom, who says the farm feels real to him and that his work is needed. Sarah tells him Guillaume had numerous affairs, including with her, and complains about Francis. The group meets in the living room, where Agathe becomes overwhelmed with questions about Sarah's apparent lack of grief, why Guillaume fell out with the family and who was with Guillaume when he died.
Tom visits the local bar, where he strikes a conversation with the bartender. When Tom mentions he is staying at the Longchamp farm, the bartender informs him Francis is banned from the establishment. Years ago, Francis and Guillaume were at the bar with another man. When the young man dancing with Guillaume told Francis he had something to say about Guillaume, Francis viciously assaulted him, tearing into his face with his hands. The young man afterwards disappeared, rumoured to be living in another village. After being chased by Francis and leaving the community, Tom spots a man at a service station with facial scars matching the bartender's described attack.
Cast
Xavier Dolan as Tom Podowski
Pierre-Yves Cardinal as Francis Longchamp
Lise Roy as Agathe Longchamp
Evelyne Brochu as Sarah Thibault
Manuel Tadros as Barman
Production
Development
After completing his 2012 feature film Laurence Anyways, Dolan felt that "a change of direction was needed" since, in his own words, the previous three movies dealt with the "subject of impossible love". Having seen a production of the play a year earlier, he met Bouchard at the Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui after the performance and asked him if anyone else was directing a film adaptation, before saying he would. He was fascinated by the play's violence and brutality and felt it could be explored further on screen. Dolan also liked the role of the mother in the play, since "mothers and sons, .. exhausted mothers is always appealing" to him.
It was the first time Dolan attempted an adaptation of previously published material. Writing with Bouchard was rushed, as Dolan wished for filming to begin in October 2012.
