Semaine de la Critique review - SLEEPING GIANT by Andrew Cividino

Adolescence is a dangerous game of truth or dare in Andrew Cividino's Sleeping Giant, from the Semaine de la Critique, which runs parallel to the 68th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.

Sleeping Giant by Andrew Cividino is an excellent teenage coming of age film. It is rugged and wild and driven by a genuineness and occasional stylistic choices that offer as complete a portrayal of adolescence as they come. The main characters of this story are fifteen years old -a pivotal age in anyone's life because of its falling between childhood and young adulthood. 

We follow introverted Adam on a summer holiday in Lake Superior with his family. His summer will be everything but quiet. He befriends modern day Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, cousins Riley and Nate who come from a troubled family background. Their debauchery and recklessness goes from innocent to downright dangerous in a heartbeat. It is them that start to control the development of the events in Adam's life, but despite their somewhat bullying behaviour, he seems drawn to them and follows them wherever they go. We also see him awaken to sex - and be slightly confused by it, as well as go through different defeats and disenchantments in life, one of which is at the expense of his father, after he discovers who he thought was a flawless family man cheated on his mother with a local girl. 

The film is a clever and sharp mixture of thoughlessness and humour with dark and sinister elements. This is enhanced by the setting itself, where the poetic waters of the lake are surrounded by frightening rocky hills, eerie forests and moths. 

Sleeping Giant is far from "sleeping". The rhythm is intense, and the succession of events relentless. From the beginning we realise that one of the driving powers are that the dangerous games with which the three pivotal characters entertain themselves can escalate quickly, and that danger is often just around the corner, spurred by a brand of teenage "ignorance". 

Cividino is also worthy of praise for the way in which he handles his young cast, and the young cast in turn shows natural talent at improvisation and seem to colour characters with their own personalities. It is also because of their performance, and it can be assumed a good selective post production, that Sleeping Giant is as sinister as it is funny. And despite its central theme, it is almost not at all nostalgic, one can feel a critique of the growing parental neglect and its outcomes, that are particularly evident in the film's dramatic resolution.