The most ambitious work yet from Montreal wunderkind Xavier Dolan, who at 23 has now had three films play to overwhelming acclaim at Cannes, Laurence Anyways is epic in scale but narrow in focus. In just under three hours, the film chronicles the tempestuous relationship of Laurence (Melvil Poupaud) and Frederique (Suzanne Clement), a bohemian couple whose commitment is put to the test when Laurence comes out as transgendered—an announcement that puts the two on vastly different paths to understanding.

Like Dolan's Heartbeats and I Killed My Mother, Laurence Anyways is filmed with a youthful passion and energy that recalls the height of the French new Wave. That effortless visual flair and the writer-director's sympathetic eye towards the complicated nature of human sexuality earned the film the Queer Palm award at Cannes.