In The Fireflies are Gone, Léo (Karelle Tremblay) is stuck in Saguenay, Quebec. She wants to leave but she doesn’t know what she wants to do.
Léo has daddy issues on several levels. Her dad was a union organiser forced to leave town in part due to the man who is now her mother’s boyfriend, now a conservative radio talk-show host. She spends time with Steve (Pierre-Luc Brillant), her guitar teacher and an older man, who lives in his mother's basement, but is definitely not his girlfriend.
2018 TIFF Canadian film wrapup
2018 TIFF preview
2018 TIFF Canadian film preview
Sébastien Pilote brings us into a summer of angst for Léo. She doesn’t know what to do for a summer job, ending up with a job supervising the ball diamond. Léo doesn’t really spend time with girlfriends but also runs hot and cold with the men in her life. She learns a lot about men throughout the summer.
The pace of the film is slow and not much happens along the way. Watching Tremblay as Léo drift is surprisingly entertaining. Tremblay made a similar impact in Our Loved Ones from Anne Émond. Brillant, who you might remember from C.R.A.Z.Y., does a fine job in the complicated role of Steve.
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Saguenay looks nice in the summertime. The city is located near Lac-Saint-Jean about 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Quebec City.
Even though the film is French-Canadian, the soundtrack is in English and includes songs from Canadian artists Rush and Arcade Fire.
The Fireflies are Gone won the Best Canadian Feature Film award at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.
video credit: YouTube/TIFF Trailers
photo credit: The Fireflies are Gone film
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