Belgian director Lukas Dhont has premiered a First World War drama at the Cannes film festival that follows a group of soldiers who form a drag theatre troupe near the western front, using performance as a fragile refuge from the brutality of battle. The film, titled Coward, has been described by the Guardian as a heartfelt gay romance and an examination of fear and lives lived in secret amid wartime violence.
The word “coward” is never spoken on screen, according to the Guardian’s review, but the theme of perceived cowardice — in combat and in personal identity — runs through the story. The film centres on Belgian soldiers granted permission to stage shows, often in drag, to entertain their comrades.
A wartime troupe as escape
The Guardian reports that Coward is set on the western front during the First World War, where Belgian troops are bogged down in the trenches. Within this setting, a group of soldiers secure approval from their superiors to create a small theatrical troupe.
According to the review, these performances, which frequently involve cross-dressing, offer the men a rare form of escapism from constant danger. The stage becomes a temporary space where rigid military roles loosen, and the soldiers can experiment with gender presentation and emotional expression that would be impossible in their daily routines at the front.
The Guardian notes that the troupe’s shows are not merely comic relief. They serve as a narrative device that reveals the characters’ vulnerabilities and desires, contrasting sharply with the harshness of their surroundings.
Romance and secrecy under fire
At the heart of Coward is a same-sex romance that develops within the troupe. The Guardian describes the film as a gay love story unfolding against the backdrop of trench warfare, with the relationship shaped by secrecy and the constant threat of exposure.
The review indicates that Dhont uses the romance to explore how soldiers navigate desire in an environment defined by rigid expectations of masculinity and bravery. The characters’ need to hide their feelings mirrors the way they must also suppress fear and doubt about the war itself.
According to the Guardian, this double secrecy — about love and about fear — gives the film its emotional tension. The romance is portrayed as both a source of strength and a potential liability in a setting where deviation from the norm can be dangerous.
Examining fear without naming it
Although the film’s title invokes the idea of cowardice, the Guardian notes that the word is never actually spoken by the characters. Instead, Coward examines how fear operates in silence: soldiers worry about failing in battle, about being seen as weak by their peers, and about the consequences of revealing their true selves.
The review suggests that Dhont frames cowardice less as a moral failing and more as a social label imposed on those who do not fit the accepted image of a fearless soldier. By focusing on characters who find solace in performance and forbidden love, the film questions who is branded a coward and why.
The Guardian’s account indicates that this approach keeps the film’s critique grounded in personal experience rather than turning it into a broad statement about the war.
Dhont’s shift to a historical setting
Lukas Dhont is best known internationally for Girl (2018) and Close (2022), contemporary dramas that focus on young people grappling with identity and emotional turmoil. While the Guardian’s review of Coward does not dwell at length on Dhont’s earlier work, it notes that this new film moves his interest in intimate, character-driven stories into a historical context.
By setting Coward in the First World War, Dhont places themes of queerness and self-expression inside a period when both were heavily policed. The Guardian describes the result as a blend of romance and wartime drama that uses the theatrical troupe to bridge private and public selves.
The review characterises the film as heartfelt, suggesting that Dhont maintains his focus on emotional detail even as he works on a larger historical canvas.
Why this Cannes premiere matters
The Guardian’s coverage positions Coward as a notable entry in this year’s Cannes lineup, highlighting its combination of trench warfare, drag performance and queer romance as an unusual angle on a familiar historical setting.
By depicting soldiers who turn to theatre — and specifically to drag — as a way to endure the front, the film brings questions of gender, sexuality and courage into a space traditionally dominated by stories of battlefield heroism. The Guardian’s review indicates that Coward invites audiences to reconsider how bravery and fear are defined, and whose experiences have been left out of standard war narratives.
Independent assessments of the film beyond the Guardian remain limited at this early stage of its festival run, and broader critical consensus has not yet formed. As Cannes continues, further reviews and audience reactions are likely to clarify how Coward is received among war dramas and LGBTQ-themed cinema.
