Review: 'Winter Boy' Shivers with Grief, Warms with Love

Christophe Honoré works with Juliette Binoche for the first time in "Winter Boy," the story of a gay teenager coming to grips with loss, sex, and doubt.

Paul Kircher plays Lucas, a teen who goes to a boarding school, where he's got a boyfriend – or, at least, a friend with benefits – named Oscar (Adrien Casse). When his father (played by Honoré, whose own father died when he was a teenager) makes an offhand remark that suggests he regrets the way his life has gone, then dies soon afterwards in a car crash, that thought gnaws at Lucas, making him wonder if his father's death might have been a suicide.

As the extended family gathers in mourning, Lucas frets to his brother, Quentin (frequent Honoré collaborator Vincent Lacoste), that their father was disappointed in him for being gay. Seeing how dejected Lucas is, Vincent agrees to take him to Paris for a week. But instead of the change of scenery clearing Lucas' head it seems to accelerate his tailspin of anxiety and uncertainty.

Left to his own devices for long days in a strange city, thanks to his brother's career as an artist, Lucas veers from one distraction to another. He has sex with another teen he meets on a hookup app; he finds his way to a church, where he peppers a priest with questions; he falls in love with his brother's gay roommate, Lilio (Erwan Kepoa Falé), who sings him sad songs in Italian but who isn't interested in a romantic relationship due to their age difference and the fact that Lucas is Vincent's kid brother. A flirtation with sex work brings everything to a head, but there's more chaos, more confusion, and more pain ahead of Lucas before the film's slowly building story comes fully into focus.

Honoré has a talent for moody cinema, whether his camera follows complex gay characters (as here, or in the Pierre Deladonchamps-starring "Sorry Angel") or delves into the terrain of magical realism (as with "On a Magical Night," starring Chiara Mastroianni). "Winter Boy" is an aptly-chosen English title (probably better than the original French title, "Le Lycéen" ("The Highschooler") if for no other reason than how well it fits with the film's sensibilities; dark, cold, set in November as well at a moment of profound despair. Honoré lets his characters be imperfect, and sometimes unlikable, etching the film with honesty that sometimes feels a little too unforgiving, but allowing its understated payoffs to feel fully earned.

"Winter Boy" streams on MUBI starting April 28.