Sarah préfère la course

Sarah Lepage is a serious competitive runner but likes little else. She is striving to get into McGill University and live in Montreal. Her mother dismisses her dream due to a lack of money. Her coworker friend Antoine Breton tells her about government grants for married couple and proposes a marriage of convenience. Eventually, she agrees but various life complications continue to intrude.

The girl's biggest assets may be her big, brown eyes. She doesn't give much acting range although her character has a narrow emotional range. Her whole demeanor is a shrug of the shoulders. The film is a bit slow with some 'nothing' scenes. Even when the character is challenged with emotional minefields, she does little with it. She's almost on the spectrum. It would be more compelling if she is. This is not just being subtle. It's really flat.

Querencia, a Spanish term, is a place a wounded bull goes to gather strength. Sarah's querencia is in her running shoes. Her wounds, significant and debilitating money, health and relationship troubles, begin to diminish when she is running over the landscape. As her troubles mount however, it remains to be seen just how far her feet can take her. Sarah also prefers running to talking, so there isn't much dialogue in the film, yet the filmmakers deftly craft an intriguing and subtle portrait of a young woman attempting to find her way in the world while staying true to what she loves. Beyond running she is not so sure what she wants. Rilke encourages us to "be patient with all that is unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves." Sarah does this best on her feet. Seen at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.