“Close” and the impossibility of queer childhood

Abstract

The text addresses queer impossibility in childhood as a tragic marker in the contemporary social fabric, taking the film “Close” (2022), directed by Lukas Dhont, as a central axis of analysis. The narrative addresses the complexities of affective relationships between two boys in a context of heterosexual normativity that pathologizes intimacy and relegates affection to a sphere of suspicion. Exploring the subtleties of affection between the characters Léo and Rémi, the article reveals how social norms impose limits on the possible-affective, transforming bonds of friendship and love into experiences of exclusion, silence, pain, and death. By suggesting a critique of identity politics, this study, based on a queer analysis, proposes the reading of queer childhood as a spark of the impossible, a dissident territory that challenges dominant conventions.