By: NO TOFU Staff Category: FILM Date: 22.May.2014

One of our favorite young directors, Xavier Dolan, whom we previously featured in our magazine, is making big splashes at this year’s Cannes Film Festival taking place this week. The 25-year old Quebecois filmmakers is there to promote his newest film, Mommy, which premiered last night. And if mention of his name caused little more than a shrug of the shoulders, that may soon change: word on the street is that Mommy, Dolan’s first movie showing in competition, is a top contender for the Palme d’Or.

Mommy stars Anne Dorval – muse of Dolan’s who also starred in Heartbeats and Laurence Anyways – Suzanne Clement and Antoine Olivier Pilon and tells the story of a struggling single mom (Dorval) and the tumultuous relationship she has with her 15-year old son who has ADHD.

Variety’s Peter Debruge echoed the sentiment of many other critics when he wrote:

“There’s never a dull moment. [Mommy] feels as if Dolan has deliberately unlearned everything he’s seen onscreen before and embraced a fresh naivete that allows him to seek the most direct, honest and emotional way of communicating any given feeling… The result is as personal as ever, an ecstatic celebration not only of mothers, but of the two incredible actresses Dolan has adopted as muses along the way.”

At a press conference, Dolan appeared as dismissive as ever of his perceived image of a “young filmmaker” making movies for “young people.”

“There might be a proper age to know how to tell a story, but there’s no proper age to start telling them,” he said.

The first clip is below.