2018-09-20
Mylia is a teenager who struggles with peer pressure in high school, and becoming a woman.
I had the pleasure of seeing this pearl of a film at the FCVQ, and I am so glad I did. Director Geneviève Dullude-De Celles is truly amazing. She already reaches such level of maturity with this film, which is also her feature length debut.
Her biggest quality as a director is her authenticity and her sensibility. Instantly we feel for Mylia, and her sister. We see her wandering around at school feeling like an outcast, and it's just so relatable and realistic. There is no melodramatic BS.
Emilie Bierre is brilliant in this, especially considering her age. She manages to never be wooden or fake, and when she's emotional it is unbelievably convincing. She has a bright career in front of her. All the cast is great actually. It's mostly kids, and they show a wide range of emotions.
The cinematography is very good. A lot of longer take. It's not a flashy film though. It's all about the message and the emotions.
The film has a lot to say about relationship. We see Mylia trying to fit in at school with people she doesn't like, while giving less time to her sister, who is also having trouble making friends.
She is introduce to this adult world of party, drinking and sex, where every kid tries as hard as possible to look and act like an adult who's seen it all, but Mylia is still a girl. She is not after these meaningless pleasures. They only make her feel worst, because she isn't a grown woman yet. She is after internal growth. Not external pleasures.
The director addresses all of these themes with such sensibility and authenticity. It's not forced or in your face. It feels real, tangible, like she just had to make a film about this, and it really shows.
Writing wise it's phenomenal. Every character has great dialogue that feels realistic and age appropriate. The story is also unpredictable, and never boring. There's always some sort of conflict or interesting interaction going on. Also everything that is introduced comes back in some way or another.
The only negative was perhaps the character of the dad could've had more screen time. He has like two scenes. He felt pretty unimportant in the end, but the movie wasn't about him anyway.
Overall this movie blew me away. I did not expected to fall in love with the characters, the setting and the message that much. I can't wait to watch it again, and I'll check out whatever Geneviève Dullude-De Celles does next.
Rating: 8/10
