Movie Review: Call Me By Your Name

CW: Mentions of sexual content

Recently, I rewatched my favorite movie called Call Me by Your Name which was released November 24, 2017, in the United States. It is a coming of age romantic drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino. The movie is based on the novel under the same name which was written in 2007 by Andrè Aciman. The movie takes place in 1983 somewhere in Northern Italy. The movie shows the romantic relationship between 17-year-old Elio Perlman, whose character is played by Timothèe Chalamet, and Oliver, who is played by Amie Hammer. Elio’s father is an Archaeology professor assisting Oliver, who is a 24-year-old graduate student coming to stay with Elio’s family over the summer. The movie starts the day Oliver comes to live with the family over the summer. When Elio first met Oliver he thought they had little in common and wouldn’t get along, and Elio even started poking fun at him at the dinner table with his parents. Oliver is carefree and confident while Elio is more reserved, spending his summer reading and working on his music. Later, there is a volleyball match that the friends of the family had gone to, and Oliver runs up to Elio and starts massaging Elio’s shoulders which makes Elio a bit uncomfortable and upset. You find out later that it was Oliver trying to show Elio his interest in him. Elio starts developing feelings for Oliver when he gets jealous of Oliver trying to pursue a girl Elio grew up with, Chiara. Elio’s father goes on an archaeological trip and decides to take Elio and Oliver whilst in a fight. While there, Elio and Oliver make up for their petty fight. After this, Elio has developed a bond and feels drawn romantically to Oliver, sneaking into Oliver’s room and smelling his clothes. On a bike ride, Elio decides to tell Oliver about the feelings he’s been feeling towards him. Oliver seems a little upset or surprised by this and tells him they shouldn’t talk of such things. Later, Elio takes Oliver to a secluded spot, his special place where he goes to read. Here, they share their first kiss. Oliver is scared of taking things further which leads to them not speaking for multiple days. Elio ends up going on a date with Marzia, his childhood friend, and the two sleep together. Elio has a feeling of something missing and writes a letter to Oliver asking to break the silence. Oliver writes back, asking Elio to meet with him at midnight. Elio agrees and is really excited so he feels as if the world is going in slow motion, he just wants it to be midnight. When Elio meets up with Oliver at midnight this is the same night they sleep with one another for the first time. After what had happened, Oliver looks at Elio and says “call me by your name and I’ll call you by mine.” The day after, Elio is really upset and doesn’t know how he is feeling. The best description I could give is sexual frustration, so in this state, he takes out these feelings by masturbating with a peach. He’s disgusted about what he had done and even embarrassed. Oliver ends up finding him and the peach. He teases Elio which makes Elio start crying about how he’s so gross and how little time they have together. Marzia ends up showing up the next day to confront Elio after not hearing from him since they slept together. He’s being really cold to her so she asks him in English “Am I your girl?” He doesn’t respond but she knows the answer, and she leaves heartbroken. At the end of Oliver’s stay with the family, Elio and he are both extremely upset, and Elio’s parents are secretly aware of the affair between the boys and know how upset they are so they recommend that the boys go to Bergamo together before Oliver goes home to the U.S. They spend three romantic days and nights together before Oliver leaves. Completely heartbroken, Elio calls his mom to come and pick him up from the train station. On his way back home, Elio runs into Marzia who sees his bloodshot eyes and puts her feelings aside to tell him they will always be friends no matter what. When he’s home he goes and sees his dad who is also aware of how sad Elio is. He informs Elio that his parents are aware of the relationship and tells him he’s gone through something similar which is why his dad tells him it’s important that he learns and grows from this rather than moving on too quickly. After some time has passed Oliver calls Elio to tell him and his family that he is getting married. With tears filling Elio’s eyes he calls Oliver by his name and Oliver calls him by his. After the call, Elio sits in front of the fireplace crying and the end credits roll. If you are interested in the movie you can rent or buy the movie on Amazon Prime, Vudu, and Youtube Movies.