Sophie Dupuis’ beautiful and provocative film was originally produced under the title “Drag”, a very literal description of the world of drag shows depicted, but also a brutal assessment of how so many of the people around it’s protagonist see him. Simon is a talented drag performer with a close relationship with most of his family, a promising new love affair with fellow-performer Olivier (Félix Maritaud) and a stage act that is growing in ambition and success. But the unexpected return of his famous mother begins to surface many of the anxieties that Simon hides beneath the stage makeup.
The film is instead released with the simultaneously more empowering and devastating title Solo. Simon is troublingly alone amongst the extended cast. His lover does not appreciate the complications of Simon’s emotions, preferring a simple relationship in which they just have fun together. His mother is completely indifferent to his abandonment issues and his desperation for her approval is driving a wedge between him and his closest relative; his sister Maude (Alice Moreault), who can’t understand his commitment to her. Even his audience prove to be unreceptive to his attempts to bear his inner soul. Everyone in his life have an expectation of him; simply that he perform.
Although slow to stand up to anyone around him, it is his mother he forgives most readily. After twelve year absence from his life pursuing a successful opera singing career in Europe, she returns to exchange few words with her estranged son. But as he explains to Olivier, he understands in a way his family could not. She’s living the art life. She can’t be tied down by attachments, which he clearly finds to be aspirational in principle, but difficult to endure. Eventually his art thrives and he succeeds only from a place of catharsis. Crisis and isolation only eats away at his creative soul.
Solo is a masterful showcase of the talents of star Théodore Pellerin and writer-director Sophie Dupuis. Director Sophie Dupuis lovingly realises the drag sequences, embellishing them with the scale and pageantry they deserve. Behind Simon’s insecurities, there is visibly an entire community and world that is inclusive and celebratory but perhaps just as ill-equipped to recognise personal suffering as any other workplace, perhaps more-so due to the performative nature of their onstage personas. It’s a stylish celebration of a vibrant community and a fraught examination of the tortured soul of a performer.
Five Stars
SOLO is released in UK & Irish cinemas 19th September 2025