It's Only the End of the World

It's Only the End of the World is a 2016 drama film written, edited and directed by Xavier Dolan. The film is based on the 1990 play of the same name by Jean-Luc Lagarce and stars Gaspard Ulliel, Nathalie Baye, Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, and Vincent Cassel. It is about a young playwright who reunites with his family after a 12-year absence to inform them he is going to die. A co-production of Canada and France, it was shot in Montreal and Laval, Quebec, beginning in 2015. The small core of actors were selected against typecasting, with Ulliel and Cotillard challenged by the awkwardness in dialogue inherent in Lagarce's work. The film made its world premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and received mixed reactions from critics. The film won the Cannes Grand Prix - making Dolan the second Canadian director to receive this award, and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at Cannes. It also won six Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture, and three César Awards: Best Director, Best Actor and Best Editing. Plot In a place identified only as "Somewhere," Louis, a 34-year-old gay playwright dealing with a terminal illness, takes a short flight to his home to reunite with his family, whom he has not seen in 12 years. His younger sister, Suzanne, has little memory of him. Upon arriving at the house, Louis' mother, Martine, is surprised to realize Louis has never met the wife of his brother Antoine, Catherine, as Louis was not present at their wedding. Catherine begins telling Louis about her and Antoine's children and nervously stammers to explain why they named one of their boys Louis, after Louis and Antoine's father. Antoine creates tension and snaps that Louis is uninterested in hearing about their children. Louis talks on the telephone to someone and says that he plans to tell his family about his impending death and then leave, and he expresses uncertainty as to how they will react.