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Slalom Kino Lorber Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Charlène Favier Writer: Charlène Favier, Marie Talon Cast: Noée Abita, Jérémie Renier, Marie Danarnaud, Muriel Combeau, Maïra Schmitt, Axel Auriant Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 4/6/21 Opens: April 9, 2021 Take it from me. If you have ever taught […]

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"I told you. Hard work pays off." Kino Lorber has released a new official US trailer for a French film titled Slalom, which was supposed to premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival last year before it was cancelled. Under the guidance of a strict ex-champion, a promising 15 year old girl named Lyz trains as a professional skiing star. She ends up becoming an object of desire for the coach. The director uses "brilliant camera work to stage a highly topical story about the crossing of boundaries in the field of world-class sports... She takes a deep look into the psyche of a young athlete who unexpectedly finds herself faced with the fact that even the biggest dream is not worth any price. The story of an emancipation." Starring Noée Abita as Lyz, with Jérémie Renier as Fred, Marie Denarnaud, Muriel Combeau, Maïra Schmitt, and Axel Auriant. This looks very, very...

A French teen ski champion navigates sexual exploitation by her male coach in Charlène Favier’s difficult but impressive debut

Is this a tale of abuse, or forbidden love? Or is there something insidious in asking that question, suggesting an ambiguity that will err leniently on the side of love? Slalom is the debut feature by director and co-writer Charlène Favier, who has indicated that it is drawn from personal experience and her own teen years growing up in the ski resort of Val-d’Isère in south-eastern France. It is impeccably acted and beautifully shot, although I wondered if it is burdened by a softcore-tasteful aesthetic and a tactful reluctance to take its own narrative implications very far. The movie finishes on an unresolved chord, as if we have left the story months or years before the actual scandalous denouement. But it is arguably faithful to the mood of messy...

"I wanna see what you're made of or you go home!" Jour 2 Fete has released the official French trailer for an indie drama titled Slalom, which was originally set to premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year before it was cancelled. Under the guidance of a strict ex-champion, a promising 15 year old girl named Lyz trains as a professional skiing star. But will she be able to endure the physical and emotional pressures? Director Charlène Favier uses "brilliant camera work to stage a highly topical story about the crossing of boundaries in the field of world-class sports. With the focus invariably on her protagonist, she takes a deep look into the psyche of a young athlete who unexpectedly finds herself faced with the fact that even the biggest dream is not worth any price. The story of an emancipation." Starring Noée Abita as Lyz, with Jérémie Renier,...

The coldest and most unforgiving movie about skiing this side of “Downhill Racer” — and just as fascinated by the loneliness of bombing down the slopes with the world at your back — Charlène Favier’s “Slalom” is . From the opening moments of her debut feature, Favier pivots between powerlessness and control with the same breakneck agility that her teenage heroine navigates the gates on each run; the film moves in one direction (downhill), and it leans into every turn like it’s already charted the fastest course to the bottom. But predictability can be a necessary ingredient for precision, and “Slalom” is so effective because of how well it tucks into the heart of its story, as though shaving a few milliseconds off its running time might be the difference between victory and a lifetime of victimhood.

Fifteen-year-old Lyz Lopez has been accepted to a super-competitive ski training academy in the French Alps.

There is a moment — little more than a sidelong glance that lingers fractionally too long — when the uneasy, sinking feeling that Charlène Favier’s Cannes 2020-labeled debut has created to that point becomes an abrupt, stomach-dropping plunge. It’s when you realize that of course this was the story it was going to tell, and almost feel foolish for holding out the hope that its wildly imbalanced central relationship might play out any other way. After that glance, “Slalom” has fewer surprises to pull than fears to confirm, which is not a criticism — that the film remains compelling despite the depressing familiarity of its beats is impressive. It’s also part of the point: We know how this story goes; doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be told.

And so instead of following the usual dramatic rhythm of revelation and reaction, Favier draws us deep into the psychology of her 15-year-old protagonist,...