Falcon Lake
Dreamy and mysterious coming-of-age film about a 14-year-old boy who spends his summer holidays at a lake in Quebec and falls under the spell of 16-year-old Chloé.
Mischievously mixing chill summer vibes and eerie gothic ambiance, the feature directorial debut of Canadian actor Charlotte Le Bon is a coming-of-age story with just enough portent to keep you wondering whether something wicked this way comes.
Bastien is fourteen, that awkward age when hormones pre-empt bodily development. He, his little brother Titi, and his mom Violette travel to a lakeside cottage in rural Quebec to spend time with Violette’s best friend Louise and her sixteen-year-old daughter Chloé. Bastien is beguiled by Chloé’s moodiness and relative worldliness. Though their difference in age feels immense, Chloé is charmed by Bastien and invites him along to parties. She also enjoys terrorizing him with tales of the child who mysteriously died in the very part of Falcon Lake where she insists Bastien go swimming. It is rumoured that the child’s ghost still haunts these waters.
Based on Bastien Vivès’ graphic novel UNE SOEUR, FALCON LAKE is deliciously irreverent with regards to tone. Its setting is all too perfect for a cabin-in-the-woods chiller, while the willowy score contributes to maintaining a creepy tension. Yet, for all the feints toward the supernatural, the film’s deepest pleasures are to be found in the perfectly earthbound bond that grows between Bastien and Chloé – beautifully realized characters who will make you long for lazy summer days where everything feels inexplicably urgent while, in fact, your whole life is ahead of you. (Source: www.tiff.net)