Directed by: Charlotte Le Bon
Distributed by: Yellow Viel Pictures
Written by Jeff Sparks
70/100
In Charlotte Le Bon’s first feature-length film we see Joseph Engel as Bastien, a 13-year-old boy on summer vacation with his family at their lakeside cabin. Also staying in the cabin are his parent’s friends and their 16-year-old daughter, Chloe. Not long after arriving at the cabin the immature Bastien finds himself interested in spending time with the imaginative older girl more so than his family. Bastien spends the first few days of vacation teasing his younger brother before Chloe brings him into her more experienced world by giving him cigarettes, alcohol, and eventually his first sexual encounter. As Bastien goes through a plethora of new experiences it becomes apparent that Chloe is still having some of her own in this tale of teen discovery. As they mingle their way through the summer the two learn not just about each other but about themselves as well. Although they’re only teenagers one detail the two explore is the things that they’re afraid of. Chloe for one knows that her biggest fear is being alone, while Bastien’s less-examined fear of drowning is left open for interpretation. While Engel’s Bastien is the protagonist, Sara Montpetit’s Chloe is the star of “Falcon Lake.”
Although she is specifically aged 16 in the film, the character of Chloe represents the struggle of fitting in and the social pressures that go along with being a teenager. She drinks, smokes, and tells her friends that she’s had sex before even though she hasn’t. She does whatever she thinks will make her gel with the other kids. She only opens up about her insecurities once in the film but they are hidden behind her frequent urge to make up mystical stories that intrigue her friends. Like many teenagers, if smoking doesn’t make her cool then she will find another way to stand out in the crowd. It isn’t told in the usual explorative and awe-inspiring style that many coming-of-age type films are depicted, but “Falcon Lake’s” ghostly spin on the genre makes it a solid summertime watch.
“Falcon Lake” Trailer
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