Queer WWI romance Coward gets official trailer after being selected for 2027 Oscars – WATCH HERE
Filmmaker Lukas Dhont said he wanted to explore the tenderness of two men discovering each other’s bodies for the first time
By Aaron Sugg
Lukas Dhont’s queer WWI romance Coward has released its official trailer after being selected as Belgium’s entry for the 2027 Oscars.
The film, starring Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne, follows two young Belgian soldiers whose relationship blossoms amid the brutality of the trenches, where drag offers them an unexpected escape from the horrors of war.
Coward premiered to acclaim at Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2026, receiving a 13-minute standing ovation. Macchia and Campagne shared the Best Actor prize.
Coward explores the queer history of WW1
In an interview with the Cannes Film Festival, filmmaker Dhont, who is gay, discussed the inspiration behind the film and its exploration of masculinity.
“I came across a black-and-white photo inside a book in a bookshop in Paris. It showed men dancing on a stage, and when I looked closely, I saw that they were wearing skirts made from sandbags and jewellery made from old ammunition.
“We live in a world where images of brutality, battlefields, and destruction – images associated with men and patriarchy – are emphasised more than images of cooperation, emotion, and intimacy. Men also tried to express themselves more freely.”
Lukas Dhont speaks about masculinity
Discussing the historical accounts that influenced the film, he said: “In soldiers’ diaries, there are accounts of men sleeping together, sharing beds, and one man who dressed up as a mother to give the others a kiss at bedtime… None of this is fiction or fantasy.”
The protagonists of Coward, Pierre and Francis, eventually have sex. Dhont said he wanted to explore the tenderness of two men discovering each other’s bodies for the first time.
Speaking to The Curb, he said: “Two people who haven’t had the chance to discover their bodies, or another body, because they live in a time where that love is supposed to be very, very silent.”
“Of course, I’m much more interested in filming sex than in violence, but in a way that feels elegant and feels like something that you can project onto and imagine.”