In Covina, a little village in Canada, Jen, fifteen, lives with her mother Sarah, a very beautiful woman in her thirties. Jen is unlike all the other teenagers of her age; she does not drink, follow fashion or wear make-up. Disturbed by the recent death of her father, who killed himself in the family home, Jen leads a solitary, emotionless existence. Every day she goes to school, speaks to no one, and then helps her mother with the chores. When her mother is asleep the young girl sits on the landing and smokes on the sly. One day Ian, her father’s half-brother, moves into their barn. Supposed to be helping the two women, this mysterious and introverted character soon becomes a source of problems and object of gossip. The watchful neighbours take a dim view of Sarah, a widow of barely a month’s standing, sharing her farm with a young man from her husband’s family. As for Jen, she appreciates Ian’s company. One evening, they decide to take a drive into the countryside. The man, physically attracted to the girl, becomes an ambiguous figure for her, leaving her torn between carnal desire and affection, as he represents both a father figure and a potential lover. Realising the unhealthy nature of this relationship, Sarah decides to show her brother-in-law the door… Against the remote countryside setting, filmmaker François Rotger offers a depiction of two sublime women, shattered by an unexpected death and trying to survive in the face of the brutality of the world that surrounds them. George Lechaptois’ meticulous cinematography captures their expressions in close-up, conveying the pain of their lives but also the intense love they feel for one another. –Locarno Film Festival
