SOLO

SOLO tells the story of Simon, a rising star on the Montreal drag scene. It’s love at first sight when he meets Olivier, the recruit to the bar-show where he performs. While Simon thinks he’s in for an electrifying love affair, a toxic and destructive dynamic develops between them. At the same time, Simon’s mother Claire, a famous opera singer, returns home to work after a 15-year absence. Fascinated by this woman, whom he hardly knows but idealizes, Simon persists in trying to create a bond with her. Weakened by the failure of these two impossible loves, Simon has no choice but to realize that he deserves better. 

• Solo is a story of love: the kind that should make us stronger and better, and the kind that slowly eats away at our souls. In part also a love letter to drag queens and their art form, Dupuis has crafted a beautiful, engaging, honest, and ultimately joyous story of how we can fall prey to this whose love is toxic, and find again a better love within ourselves and our chosen community. ScreenAnarchy 

• Solo is a film that earns its emotional beats. Dupuis avoids many of the familiar tropes audiences might expect from a film set within the world of drag. Instead of focusing on trauma and hate, she allows her characters to simply exist as regular people trying to make sense of the confusing nature of love. A vibrant and emotionally rich tale, Solo is a reminder that one is never alone when you learn to love yourself.  Exclaim! 

• Similarly, the film’s romance and relationships are incidentally about and yet entirely grounded in queerness, rather than hetero normative reactions to it. Dupuis calls it her “love letter to drag”, and that shines through (…) Come for the drag, stay for the drama and, in between, a finely nuanced portrait of love and longing, thorns and all. The Haughty Culturist 

Régie du Québec point of view: G 

This drama by filmmaker Sophie Dupuis describes the circumstances surrounding the birth of a first love. A few scenes depict the couple’s intimacy with reserve. Focused on embrace and tenderness, they are quickly absorbed in the editing, which favours the straight cut and the ellipse. Rare passages discreetly show the recreational use of drug tablets. These segments slip into the narrative without insistence and without affecting the subject or the general tone of the whole 

https://repertoire.cinema.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/film/solo-437169/ 

• Chicago International Film Festival –  
• Palm Springs International Film Festival (2024) 
• TIFF (2024) 
• Calgary International Film Festival 
• Windsor International FF 

TIFF – Best Canadian Film Feature – Sophie Dupuis – 2023 

Palm Springs International FF – Directors to watch – winner Sophie Dupuis -2024 

7 nominations