“A poignant but oddly upbeat examination of friendship, identity and the importance of companionship in times of immense obstacles.”

For as long as we have been sentient, humans have had a peculiar relationship with our hair – in some cultures, it is a sacred entity and a sign of perpetual growth, whereas in others there is a tendency to maintain a more neat, orderly appearance. Hair represents several different ideas, some tangible and biological, others more abstract. These shifting perspectives are the foundation for Before/After (Avant/Après), the audacious directorial debut of Manoël Dupont, in which we are introduced to Baptiste and Jérémy (bearing the names of the actors playing them, Baptiste Leclere and Jérémy Lamblot respectively), two middle-aged men who become unlikely companions when they are paired to participate in a hair transplant. They travel to Istanbul and endure a rigorous set of consultations and appointments, all to prepare them for a procedure that many consider purely cosmetic, but which in reality has a psychological impact on those who choose to undergo the gruelling but ultimately worthwhile process, the benefits vastly outweighing the shortcomings. A poignant but oddly upbeat examination of friendship, identity and the importance of companionship in times of immense obstacles, Before/After is a very charming film; one that seems straightforward at first, yet the moment we peer beneath the surface, fascinating and unorthodox conversations begin to emerge.

A close friend once boldly referred to his receding hairline as “a crown of wisdom”, and while we can be sure that he wasn’t referencing the Biblical origins of the phrase, it’s a description that lingers as both charming and unexpectedly funny. The obsession with beauty standards is not a new phenomenon – we have always been preoccupied with aligning as closely with the ideal view of beauty as possible, even if it means making financial and psychological sacrifices in the pursuit of perfection, or its closest approximation. This is where Dupont draws inspiration for the themes that permeate Before/After, which follows two seemingly ordinary men as they make their way to Turkey, hoping to return with a full head of hair and an elevated sense of self-confidence. However, it becomes clear that the director doesn’t simply want to fill his story with in-depth descriptions of the various medical procedures that go into a hair transplant (although it is interesting to see the details of the process). Instead he develops a film that is far deeper and more profound, and can be most appropriately described as a quiet meditation on masculinity. The two protagonists are essentially strangers at the start, their conversations friendly but awkward. After some time, they’re forced to embrace their own shifting realities.

We can’t logically call Before/After a coming-out story, since the two leads are essentially blank canvases when we meet them, their origins entirely obscure to the viewer – but the growing examination of their innermost desires, which extends beyond simply yearning for a fuller head of hair, facilitates quite a bold and endearing narrative. Dupont had a strong conceptual foundation on which to build this film, and therefore most of his work entailed developing a story that carries significant meaning, as well as ensuring that the final product matched his underlying intentions. In the hands of a filmmaker without such an enormous degree of empathy and sincerity, Before/After would be a far more heavy-handed affair, especially when it begins to veer towards a story of two men gradually falling in love with one another. Even when the plot moves away from the initial points of discussion, Dupont manages to gently redirect the attention back to the core themes, making it clear that everything in this film is intentional, even when it is at its most freewheeling and seemingly unwieldy. The tone of Before/After is also unusual, existing somewhere between sardonic humour and tender drama, following the growing companionship between these two men with a stunning level of compassion, finding humour not in their plight (never once is the fact that they’re seeking a hair transplant used as a punchline), but rather in the eccentricities that define these individuals, their conversations starting as quite banal but eventually becoming more insightful and amusing. It’s a deft blend of different tones, but where absolutely every decision is purposeful and carries some meaning.

Before/After may seem relatively simple based on a cursory glance, but Dupont makes it clear throughout that this is not as straightforward an affair as it seems. The foundation may be built around a picaresque journey of two men trying to get a new lease on life through undergoing a procedure that is only becoming more popular as it grows in accessibility and affordability, but it eventually flourishes into a more complex deconstruction of a number of other ideas: identity, masculinity and the challenges that come with being forced to carry the impossible burden of social ideals. The director has stated that the title for this film comes from the tendency for practitioners of these treatments to plaster social media with photographs and videos showing their clients before and after the procedure – and what is purely a marketing tactic is here redefined as something much deeper, with the focus being on a pair of run-of-the-mill middle-aged men who decide to undergo a daunting, expensive journey solely to boost their confidence but in the process find themselves on a voyage of self-discovery, unearthing secrets about themselves and learning that they haven’t even begun to fully understand their own inner identity. Anchored by two splendid performances from the leads, who commit wholeheartedly to the peculiar premise while also maintaining a stoic, deeply humane sense of compassion, Before/After is a fascinating character-based drama that may not always be entirely clear in its motives at certain points, but has a firm dedication to its premise, and just enough creative flair to effectively develop on a multitude of its unconventional ideas.