Directed by Philippe Lesage • Drama • With Arieh Worthalter, Paul Ahmarani, Noah Parker, Aurélia Arandi-Longpré • 2024 • 155 minutes
A getaway at a secluded log cabin in the forest becomes the site of escalating, multigenerational tensions and anxieties in this disquieting, impeccably mounted coming-of-age drama from Quebecois filmmaker Philippe Lesage. Ostensibly a merry reunion between well-known film director Blake Cadieux (Arieh Worthalter, 2024 César winner for Best Actor for The Goldman Case) and his longtime friend and former collaborator Albert Gary (Paul Ahmarani), the vacation gradually becomes something far more complex, especially with the combustible mix of Albert’s teen son’s best friend, Jeff (Noah Parker), and Albert’s self-asserting daughter Aliocha (Aurélia Arandi-Longpré). Long-simmering middle-aged resentments surface, set against the anxieties of the young, all captured sensitively by Lesage, who has proven unparalleled in evoking the psychological contours of teenagers finding their way through tough emotional landscapes.
WHO BY FIRE confirms Lesage as a major contemporary filmmaker.
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