Chalamet’s performance is a revelation. He captures every micro-expression of a teenager in the throes of an overwhelming crush: the nervous glances, the obsessive compulsion, the physical awkwardness, and the bursts of performative petulance. Hammer, conversely, delivers his most celebrated performance by playing against type, infusing Oliver with a deep vulnerability beneath his "golden god" exterior, his resistance to his own desires giving way to a tender, tentative passion.
Guadagnino and cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (who shot the film on 35mm film, not digital) employ an almost voyeuristic intimacy with the camera. The lens lingers on skin. We see the freckles on Elio’s shoulders, the blond hair on Oliver’s arms, the way a shirt sticks to a wet back. The camera loves the body. Call Me By Your Name
Six years later, the phrase has become a common phrase among cinephiles and romantics to describe a specific aesthetic: soft light, ripe fruit, bare skin, and the ache of nostalgia. Chalamet’s performance is a revelation