Call Me By Your Name

A beautifully romantic gay coming-of-age drama. 

BY ORLY LYONNE

Critics are raving about the new film “Call Me By Your Name,” a sensual and transcendent tale of first love, based on the acclaimed novel by André Aciman, directed by Luca Guadagnino.

It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17-year-old American-Italian boy, spends his days in his family’s 17th century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel).

Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.

Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights.

While Elio’s sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart.

One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.


Playing now at The Arclight Hollywood and at The Landmark.

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