SLEEPING GIANT

Three teenage boys form a friendship over the course of a summer. It’s a simple time of first beers, block parties and petty theft. Nevertheless, a jealousy is brewing between them — over girls, parents and friends — and little betrayals begin to add up. The drama comes to a head at the top of a cliff that only two men have ever dared to jump off, at least according to local legend. A master stroke of a first feature by Canadian director Andrew Cividino that screened in competition at this year’s International Critics’ Week at Cannes. Cividino coaxes astoundingly natural and incisive performances from his young stars, Nick Serino in particular, whose Nate is equal parts abusive and appealing. The visuals are imbued with an infectious energy and an expressive use of landscapes and scenery, where terrain, insects and light mirror the main characters’ inner thoughts. Cividino avoids the trashy decadence and sterile Hollywood ageism seen in the films of Larry Clark, painting instead a nuanced portrait of adolescence, with all its torments, recklessness and regrets. A coming of age film for Generation Z.