Off to boarding school

Hubert is the epitome of teen angst. He cannot love his mother, but he cannot not love her in Xavier Dolan’s debut feature film, I Killed My Mother, playing at the Cleveland Institute of Arts Cinematheque on June 7 and 8.

The film debuted at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, but its American distributor shut down before the film could be released here. This will be the first time the film plays in Cleveland.

Dolan, a cinematic wunderkind, plays Hubert, who lives with his mother, Chantale. Chantale and Hubert’s father divorced years ago, and Hubert only sees him on Christmas and Easter.

Hubert is dating Antonin, another teenager. When Antonin’s mother mistakenly assumes Chantale knows about the relationship and mentions it to her, Hubert’s mother accepts that he is gay but disappointed that he did not tell her himself.

Eventually, Hubert’s moodiness and misbehavior reach the point where Chantale and Richard, her ex-husband and Hubert’s father, decide to send him to boarding school.

Of course, it’s a Catholic school, so he gets laid, sneaks out with other students to go to a nightclub, does drugs and eventually runs away from the school. The principal makes the mistake of lecturing Chantale when he calls to tell her Hubert has escaped, so she lets him have it before going to Hubert’s “kingdom,” mentioned in the note he left at the school telling them he had left.

The film got an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes, and the fact that it never had a United States release is a tragedy for film lovers, but that miscarriage of justice can be rectified. It will show at the Cinematheque, 11141 East Boulevard, on Friday, June 7 at 5:15 pm and Saturday, June 8 at 7 pm. Tickets are $10, $8 for Cinematheque members and $7 for patrons under 25. No passes, “twofers” or free tickets won on the radio will be accepted to these special screenings.

--Anthony Glassman