C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)
Movie · 2005 · Comedy, Drama · 2h 6m · NR · French
Curator score: 8.3/10 (35.6K ratings)
Tagline: Growing up in this family, you'd have to be... C.R.A.Z.Y.
A young French Canadian, one of five boys in a conservative family in the 1960s and 1970s, struggles to reconcile his emerging identity with his father's values.
Ratings:
- Curator score: 8.3/10
- IMDb: 7.8/10
- Metacritic: 81
- TMDB: 7.5/10
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Production: Cirrus Communications, Crazy Films
Cast: Marc-André Grondin, Danielle Proulx, Michel Côté, Pierre-Luc Brillant, Alex Gravel, Maxime Tremblay, Natacha Thompson, Francis Ducharme, Mariloup Wolfe, Johanne Lebrun, Émile Vallée, Hélène Grégoire, Jean-Louis Roux, Joël LeMay, Michel Laperrière, Mohamed Majd, Claude Gagnon, Jean-Alexandre Létourneau, Sébastien Blouin, Félix-Antoine Despatie
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, AMC+, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict: A deeply felt coming-of-age drama with strong period detail, vivid music cues, and a sharp sense of family tension. It stands out for balancing humor, pain, and tenderness while tracing identity against a conservative household.
Best for: coming-of-age dramas; LGBTQ+ stories; family conflict films; music-driven period pieces; viewers who like emotional but stylish filmmaking
Skip if: you want a fast, plot-heavy narrative; you prefer understated realism with little stylistic flourish; family dysfunction and homophobia are too stressful
Overview: C.R.A.Z.Y. is a warm, bruised, and very specific coming-of-age story that turns a Quebec family saga into something universal. It follows a boy trying to understand himself inside a loud, affectionate, deeply conservative home, and the film gets a lot of its power from how ordinary that struggle feels even when the emotions are extreme.
Worth noting: Jean-Marc Vallée gives the movie a fluid, expressive style that never overwhelms the characters. The soundtrack choices do a lot of emotional work, but the film is strongest when it lets family rituals, sibling dynamics, and the father-son tension accumulate into something painful and recognizable.
Bottom line: What makes it linger is the mix of tenderness and embarrassment, comedy and repression. It is funny without being glib, sad without becoming inert, and it has the kind of lived-in specificity that makes a personal story feel bigger than its setting.
Top Letterboxd reviews:
- maaike: the poor mom having to live with six men omg
- Anna C. Grajales: This walked so Xavier Dolan’s entire career could run.
- 🐸: I am at all times thinking about that scene where he sings Space Oddity in his room
- inês: yes to teenagers coming to terms with who they are with a little help from david bowie
- gluten_free: Make le Québec gay again
Recommended similar titles:
- Call Me by Your Name (2017 · Romance, Drama · 2h 12m · R · Curator 8.4/10 (3.4M ratings) · Where to watch: Peacock, Peacock Premium Plus)
A lyrical queer coming-of-age story with strong seasonal atmosphere, emotional restraint, and a focus on first desire and self-recognition.
- The Squid and the Whale (2005 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 21m · R · Curator 7.1/10 (240.7K ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads)
Another sharply observed family drama about a child navigating adult conflict, identity formation, and the damage of parental expectations.
- Billy Elliot (2000 · Drama, Comedy, Music · 1h 51m · R · Curator 8.5/10 (486.7K ratings))
Shares the theme of a young person discovering identity in a restrictive home, with music, humor, and emotional uplift.
- Moonlight (2016 · Drama · 1h 51m · R · Curator 9.6/10 (1.7M ratings) · Where to watch: Max)
A tender, formally assured portrait of queer self-discovery shaped by family pressure, masculinity, and memory.
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012 · Drama · 1h 43m · PG-13 · Curator 7.9/10 (3.4M ratings) · Where to watch: AMC+, Philo)
A sensitive teen coming-of-age film about belonging, sexuality, and the way music can become a private refuge.
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994 · Drama, Comedy · 1h 43m · R · Curator 7.7/10 (172.7K ratings))
For viewers drawn to queer identity, self-invention, and a mix of comedy and vulnerability in a vivid cinematic style.
- Maurice (1987 · Drama, Romance · 2h 20m · R · Curator 7.8/10 (161.1K ratings) · Where to watch: Philo)
A period queer romance about repression and self-acceptance, with a strong sense of social constraint and emotional longing.
- The Way He Looks (2014 · Drama, Romance · 1h 36m · NR · Curator 7.5/10 (30.3K ratings))
A gentle, emotionally direct coming-of-age romance that captures first love and the awkwardness of growing into oneself.
- A Fantastic Woman (2017 · Drama · 1h 44m · R · Curator 7.0/10 (79.1K ratings))
Different in tone, but similarly about identity under pressure and the emotional cost of being judged by family and society.
- The Virgin Suicides (2000 · Drama, Romance · 1h 37m · R · Curator 8.4/10 (3.6K ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV)
For its dreamy period atmosphere, teenage longing, and the sense of adolescence as both mythic and suffocating.
- Almost Famous (2000 · Drama, Music · 2h 4m · R · Curator 8.9/10 (1M ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential)
A nostalgic coming-of-age film where music becomes a map for identity, desire, and emotional escape.
- Brokeback Mountain (2005 · Drama, Romance · 2h 14m · R · Curator 9.1/10 (1.8M ratings) · Where to watch: Hulu, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus)
A landmark queer drama about repression, longing, and the painful distance between private truth and public life.
Topics: coming-of-age, LGBTQ+, family drama, queer awakening, 1970s, period piece, music-driven, emotional, Catholic guilt, stylized realism
https://watchlist.tannermartz.com/apple/movie/c-r-a-z-y/11421
C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)
Movie · 2005 · Comedy, Drama · 2h 6m · NR · French
Curator score: 8.3/10 (35.6K ratings)
Growing up in this family, you'd have to be... C.R.A.Z.Y.
Overview A young French Canadian, one of five boys in a conservative family in the 1960s and 1970s, struggles to reconcile his emerging identity with his father's values.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.3/10
IMDb: 7.8/10
Metacritic: 81
TMDB: 7.5/10
Production Cirrus Communications, Crazy Films
Cast Marc-André Grondin, Danielle Proulx, Michel Côté, Pierre-Luc Brillant, Alex Gravel, Maxime Tremblay, Natacha Thompson, Francis Ducharme, Mariloup Wolfe, Johanne Lebrun, Émile Vallée, Hélène Grégoire, Jean-Louis Roux, Joël LeMay, Michel Laperrière, Mohamed Majd, Claude Gagnon, Jean-Alexandre Létourneau, Sébastien Blouin, Félix-Antoine Despatie
Where to watch Amazon Prime Video, AMC+, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A deeply felt coming-of-age drama with strong period detail, vivid music cues, and a sharp sense of family tension. It stands out for balancing humor, pain, and tenderness while tracing identity against a conservative household.
Best for
coming-of-age dramas
LGBTQ+ stories
family conflict films
music-driven period pieces
viewers who like emotional but stylish filmmaking
Skip if
you want a fast, plot-heavy narrative
you prefer understated realism with little stylistic flourish
family dysfunction and homophobia are too stressful
Overview
C.R.A.Z.Y. is a warm, bruised, and very specific coming-of-age story that turns a Quebec family saga into something universal. It follows a boy trying to understand himself inside a loud, affectionate, deeply conservative home, and the film gets a lot of its power from how ordinary that struggle feels even when the emotions are extreme.
Worth noting
Jean-Marc Vallée gives the movie a fluid, expressive style that never overwhelms the characters. The soundtrack choices do a lot of emotional work, but the film is strongest when it lets family rituals, sibling dynamics, and the father-son tension accumulate into something painful and recognizable.
Bottom line
What makes it linger is the mix of tenderness and embarrassment, comedy and repression. It is funny without being glib, sad without becoming inert, and it has the kind of lived-in specificity that makes a personal story feel bigger than its setting.
Top Letterboxd reviews
maaike (3.5★) · 911 likes
the poor mom having to live with six men omg
Anna C. Grajales (4.5★) · 636 likes
This walked so Xavier Dolan’s entire career could run.
🐸 · 610 likes
I am at all times thinking about that scene where he sings Space Oddity in his room
inês (3.5★) · 387 likes
yes to teenagers coming to terms with who they are with a little help from david bowie
gluten_free (4★) · 356 likes
Make le Québec gay again
Recommended similar titles
2017 · Romance, Drama · 2h 12m · R · Curator 8.4/10 (3.4M ratings) · Where to watch: Peacock, Peacock Premium Plus
A lyrical queer coming-of-age story with strong seasonal atmosphere, emotional restraint, and a focus on first desire and self-recognition.
2005 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 21m · R · Curator 7.1/10 (240.7K ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Another sharply observed family drama about a child navigating adult conflict, identity formation, and the damage of parental expectations.
2000 · Drama, Comedy, Music · 1h 51m · R · Curator 8.5/10 (486.7K ratings)
Shares the theme of a young person discovering identity in a restrictive home, with music, humor, and emotional uplift.
2016 · Drama · 1h 51m · R · Curator 9.6/10 (1.7M ratings) · Where to watch: Max
A tender, formally assured portrait of queer self-discovery shaped by family pressure, masculinity, and memory.
2012 · Drama · 1h 43m · PG-13 · Curator 7.9/10 (3.4M ratings) · Where to watch: AMC+, Philo
A sensitive teen coming-of-age film about belonging, sexuality, and the way music can become a private refuge.
1994 · Drama, Comedy · 1h 43m · R · Curator 7.7/10 (172.7K ratings)
For viewers drawn to queer identity, self-invention, and a mix of comedy and vulnerability in a vivid cinematic style.
1987 · Drama, Romance · 2h 20m · R · Curator 7.8/10 (161.1K ratings) · Where to watch: Philo
A period queer romance about repression and self-acceptance, with a strong sense of social constraint and emotional longing.
2014 · Drama, Romance · 1h 36m · NR · Curator 7.5/10 (30.3K ratings)
A gentle, emotionally direct coming-of-age romance that captures first love and the awkwardness of growing into oneself.
2017 · Drama · 1h 44m · R · Curator 7.0/10 (79.1K ratings)
Different in tone, but similarly about identity under pressure and the emotional cost of being judged by family and society.
2000 · Drama, Romance · 1h 37m · R · Curator 8.4/10 (3.6K ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV
For its dreamy period atmosphere, teenage longing, and the sense of adolescence as both mythic and suffocating.
2000 · Drama, Music · 2h 4m · R · Curator 8.9/10 (1M ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
A nostalgic coming-of-age film where music becomes a map for identity, desire, and emotional escape.
2005 · Drama, Romance · 2h 14m · R · Curator 9.1/10 (1.8M ratings) · Where to watch: Hulu, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus
A landmark queer drama about repression, longing, and the painful distance between private truth and public life.
Topics
coming-of-age, LGBTQ+, family drama, queer awakening, 1970s, period piece, music-driven, emotional, Catholic guilt, stylized realism
Open C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) on Curator TV