In a concert hall filling with patrons, Julian — wearing a crisp white shirt and close-cropped hair — sits wedged between two couples. As Fleur makes her way along the row, they exchange a glance before Fleur (Nina Meurisse) continues to a seat behind Julian (Laurence Roothooft). As the house lights dim, Fleur stares transfixed at the nape of Julian’s neck.
In the Belgian director Cato Kusters’ feature debut, “Julian,” based on a true story, a subtle warmth bathes the too-abbreviated relationship of the writer-activist Fleur Pierets and her wife, Julian Boom.
Inspired by Pierets’ 2023 memoir of the same name, “Julian” recounts Fleur and Julian’s plans to travel to the 22 countries that recognized same-sex marriage at the time and to exchange vows in each. Initially a lark, then a celebration as well as a protest, they christened their endeavor Project 22.
The pair made it to four cities before Julian became ill. When Fleur returns to New York City, it’s 2019 and she’s there to deliver a lecture. She is also strikingly solo.
Kusters and her fellow writer, Angelo Tijssens, deftly maneuver the fragmentation of time and the looping memories that accompany grief. Working on her lecture, Fleur watches videos that she and Julian took during their travels. Their love lives in the movie’s present, but also its past tense in ways that resists closure. As it marks ends and beginnings, “Julian” honors a love abridged and enduring.
Julian Not rated. In French, English and Dutch. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. In theaters.
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