Working title

J’ai Tue Ma Mere (2009) is the first feature film from Quebecois independent film maker Xavier Dolan, who was 16 when he wrote the script and 19 when he made the film. Dolan also stars in the semi-autobiographical film, as Hubert, a gay teenager at odds with his single mother.

The film’s title, I Killed My Mother, in English, comes from an essay Hubert writes after having been caught in a lie about his mother being dead. The surly teenager trope in films is a pet peeve of mine, though in this film it works, probably because it was written from the teenager’s perspective. Turbulent mother/son relationships are a recurring theme in Dolan’s work.

J’ai Tue Ma Mere premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where it won three awards, then went on to win numerous awards at other festivals, including directing and screenwriting, and acting awards for himself, Anne Dorval, who played his mother, and Francois Arnaud, most recently seen in Heated Rivalry, making his film debut as Hubert’s boyfriend.

Dolan has received numerous accolades for his eight subsequent films as writer, director, producer, and actor, as an actor in other directors’ films, and as a music video director.

He has not killed his mother or anyone else.