Tom at the Farm

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Xavier Dolan directs. André Turpin behind the camera. Gabriel Yared scores. Xavier Dolan cuts. Produced in Canada, France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 12 years ago.
• 2International production across 2 countries: Canada, France.
• 3Directed by Xavier Dolan, shot by André Turpin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Gabriel Yared. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Xavier Dolan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Xavier Dolan and Pierre-Yves Cardinal and Lise Roy carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "What you don't know will hurt you.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt2427892 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 10 themes, including "homophobia", "psychopath", "male homosexuality", "in the closet".

The technical file

Cinematography

André Turpin

Original score

Gabriel Yared

Editing

Xavier Dolan

Production design

Colombe Raby

Costume design

Xavier Dolan

Makeup / hair

Michelle Côté

VFX supervisor

Sébastien Jacob

Sound

Olivier Goinard

Stunt coordinator

Stéphane Julien

Runtime

105 min · 1h 45m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$687,505

Original language

FR

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Tom at the Farm (2014) ↗

Also by

Xavier Dolan

• 
  Mommy

  2014 · ★ 8.2
• 
  The Night Logan Woke Up

  2022 · ★ 7.9
• 
  Laurence Anyways

  2012 · ★ 7.6
• 
  I Killed My Mother

  2009 · ★ 7.4
• 
  It's Only the End of the World

  2016 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Heartbeats

  2010 · ★ 7.1

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  TOM AT THE FARM Clip - Tom and Sarah

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  TOM AT THE FARM Clip - Escape

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official U.S. Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  TOM AT THE FARM Clip | Festival 2013

  Clip
• 

  ▶
  Telefilm Canada Interview: An Evening with Xavier Dolan - Tom at the Farm at MoMA in NY

  Featurette · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• CinemaSerf2026-05-20
  ★ 7/10

  "Tom" (Xavier Dolan) arrives at a remote farmhouse and lets himself in. Shortly afterwards, "Agathe" (Lise Roy) arrives home to welcome this best friend of her son whose funeral she has just attended and that he has just missed. What she doesn't know is that he was his lover, but her other son "Francis" (Pierre-Yves Cardinal) is in on their sordid little secret and makes no bones about his disgust in the middle of the night. "Agathe" likes having her guest around for a while, though, and with plenty to do around their 45-cow farm, "Tom" starts to learn some of the ropes whilst "Francis" plays an increasingly violent and manipulative game. Initially that has quite an intimidating effect, but after a while it becomes clearer to "Tom" (and to us) that perhaps "Francis" isn't quite what he purports to be. When "Sarah" (Evelyne Brochu) arrives in the guise of her late son's fictitious girlfriend, events become even more toxically complex and things between the two young men seem set to heading for quite a dramatic conclusion. Despite his dyed blonde hair, did anyone else thing Dolan looked like Robert Downey Jnr here? Either way, he turns in one of his best efforts as a man dealing with his own trauma and demons as well as with the aggression of a Cardinal who combines his angry odiousness with a degree of vulnerability in a convincing fashion that dominates proceedings as the psychological see-sawing between the pair becomes tinged with a vaguely and thereby quite potent homo-eroticism. It's a bleak assessment of humanity, but one I found perversely engaging and it shows well just how many different manifestations grief can take.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  mk2 Films

  FR

• SO

  Sons of Manual

  CA

• 

  ARTE France Cinéma

  FR

Key crew

• ProducerCharles Gillibert
• ProducerNathanaël Karmitz
• Line ProducerCarole Mondello
• Theatre PlayMichel Marc Bouchard
• Executive ProducerNancy Grant
• Associate ProducerLyse Lafontaine
• EditorXavier Dolan
• Set DecorationPascale Deschênes
• Costume DesignXavier Dolan
• Production SupervisorNathalie Dennes
• Production ManagerCarole Mondello
• Special EffectsMarc Reichel
• Makeup ArtistMichelle Côté
• Sound EditorSylvain Brassard
• Sound Re-Recording MixerOlivier Goinard
• SoundFrançois Grenon
• DialogueXavier Dolan
• DialogueMichel Marc Bouchard
• ProducerXavier Dolan
• Production AssistantAlexis Genauzeau
• Production DesignColombe Raby
• Hair Department HeadMichelle Côté
• Post-Production ManagerPierre Thériault
• First Assistant DirectorNormand Labelle

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• homophobia
• psychopath
• male homosexuality
• in the closet
• death of lover
• criminal
• lgbt
• sadistic psychopath
• rural
• gay theme

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2013-11-10NR· AFI Fest
• Theatrical (limited)2015-08-14NR
• Digital2015-08-14NR· iTunes

Also known as

International titles

• 탐엣더팜KR