3.5

Familiar Ground

Drama


 

Benoit lives with his invalid father while his sister, Maryse, is desperate for her husband to sell the backhoe sitting abandoned in their suburban yard.

The camera zooms in on family relationships, focussing on small interactions and exchanges. If you've ever wondered what the neighbours are doing, this film is a glimpse of them indulging in the same mundane activities as your loved ones. "Familiar Ground" is understated and wry, full of mini-moments. It manages to be unexpectedly generous too, as this little, almost deadpan, movie delivers a redemptive feel-not-bad, if not feel good, close. Familiar terrain that surprises.

Anne Murphy

MIFF 2011
90 mins




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