Direction: Charlène Favier
Country: France
Slalom, the slow-burning coming-of-age film that marks the directorial debut from Charlène Favier, is a very personal manifesto and a wake-up call on the topic of sexual abuse in sports. Painted with deep feeling and a superior sensitivity, the film brilliantly exposes the traumatic experience and psychological damage suffered by Lyz Lopez (Noée Abita), a 15-year-old skiing prodigy who falls in the hands of the transgressive and authoritarian Fred (Jérémie Renier), an ex-champion turned coach.
Lyz is very serious about skiing, and her goal is no less than reaching the top. She is fiercely encouraged - mostly never in a proper way - by her trainer, whom she thinks of with a mix of admiration and trepidation. His psychological and physical abuses create an emotional state of confusion and consternation that is transported to the screen with a chilling impact.
Although fictional, the film carries a semi-autobiographical weight up to a point, since Favier disclosed she was a victim of sexual violence in sports in her youth. The absence of parents has also played an important role in the story.
Possessing a tight control over the camera and catching glimpses of details with astute intelligence, the filmmaker succeeds in laying bare the complexities of this ruinous teen-adult relationship. Abita, a revelation who rises to the challenge of letting us feel what the character is going through, and Renier, a confirmation whose presence has been foremost in the work of the Dardenne Brothers along the years, deliver crackerjack performances.
Slalom is convincingly raw and quietly creepy.
