Acclaimed Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont follows his controversial Caméra d’Or and Queer Palm-winning debut Girl, and his Oscar-nominated sophomore feature Close, with the emotionally potent Coward, which was nominated for the Palm D’Or at this year’s Cannes and is receiving its North American premiere at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival. The First World War-set drama centres on Pierre (Emmanuel Macchia) as he arrives on the frontlines—one of the millions of young men drafted by their nations—ripped from his life on a Belgian farm and thrown into the midst of the horrors of trench warfare.
With stunningly beautiful, but nicely retrained cinematography by Frank van den Eeden—continuing his collaboration with Dhont after Girl and Close—we are immediately immersed in the new reality of these men’s lives. Dhont does not allow us to comfortably sit back and observe a glossy historical recreation, but confronts us with something visceral, in the moment, taking us into the muddy fields, and not sparing us from the blood, spit, and piss of men thrown together in close quarters.
The camaraderie and care that the men have for one another is juxtaposed with the intense fear and trauma of what they are going through. The action moves from the soldiers singing rousing songs to boost morale in one scene then piling up the bodies of the bloodied dead among their number the next. What sets Coward apart from many other war films is its focus on one man’s perspective, with many close-up shots of Macchia’s expressive face, drawing us into his experience of the war. It is this specificity that proves to be compelling.
While Pierre has been nicknamed “Quiet Mouse’ by his fellow soldiers, Francis (Valentin Campagne) is the vibrant, uninhibitedly flamboyant showman of their unit. A tailor by trade, set to take on his father’s business, Francis has been tasked with entertaining the troops, taking centre stage in drag backed up by a drag chorus. Ahead of the first show, Pierre agrees to help build the stage for the upcoming performance and is immediately captivated by the dedicated and talented Francis. The chemistry between them is electrifying and given the context of the time period and the life-threatening situation they are enduring, the moments of tenderness between them are deeply affecting. Even the eye contact between them is mesmerizing.
With a screenplay co-written with Angelo Tijssens, Dhont excels in the unspoken moments of deep connection between the two men as they fall in love with one another, while Alain Dessauvage’s (who also worked on Girl and Close) delicate editing allows Macchia and Campagne’s exquisite performances space to breathe. It is easy to see why they were both honoured with the Best Actor award at Cannes for their richly layered yet subtle work together. As Pierre gets more involved in the theatre troupe—the self-proclaimed “band of rejects”—the two manage to steal more time together unnoticed. In fact, Francis begins to wish the war would never end as he believes it allows the couple a freedom to be themselves that their future lives will not. Despite the threat of execution for cowardice, Pierre suggests that they desert the army and flee to a neutral country.
While the shows to entertain the troops are initial a vehicle for humour, both within the film and for us in the audience, once Francis begins singing during his first performance in drag it proves spellbinding and poignant, with everyone in the room transported by his haunting falsetto voice. In a way that is reminiscent of Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing, which premiered at TIFF in 2023 and this year’s Elsinore, Coward evokes the extraordinary power of theatre and the arts to heal and bolster us, both as practitioners and those engaging with it.
Belgium’s official submission in the international feature film category for the 99th Academy Awards, Coward showcases impeccable filmmaking in every department including costume and production design, with a stirring tonal score and a detailed immersive soundscape. Dhont deftly and affectingly captures the physical and psychological brutality of the battlefield and delivers a powerful queer love story for the ages.
By James Kleinmann
Coward plays the 51st Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, September 13th and Monday, September 14th, 2026 and will be released in the US by MUBI. See more TIFF 2026 LGBTQ+ highlights here.
MUBI will release Coward theatrically in the United States on December 25th, 2026.
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