West of Pluto

A L'Ouest de Pluton

(Canada, 2008, 95 mins)

35mm

Producers: Henry Bernadet, Myriam Verreault
Screenwriters: Henry Bernadet, Myriam Verreault
Cinematographer: Patrick Faucher
Editor: Myriam Verreault
Cast: Alexis Drolet, David Bouchard, Anne-Sophie Lamontagne, Yoann Linteau, Sandra Jacques, Denis Marchand, Thomas Gionet-Lavigne

What's on the brain of the suburban Quebecois teenager? Sex, secession, and the planetary status of Pluto. Henry Bernadet and Myriam Verreault's high school flick opens with their cast of fifteen and sixteen year olds blurting out their favorite passions at show and tell, and then tracks them through a whirlwind 24 hours where we learn more about them than they'd want the class to know—including obsessive crushes, lost virginities, and stoned house party mayhem.

Delivered with verite tension—not a Superbad high five—Bernadet and Verreault's film showcases the casual cruelty of teenagers as they tease a middle-aged fry cook, oblivious to the class divide she's clearly aware of. Meanwhile, an older brother's angry effort to scare some maturity in the kids who trashed his home lands one boy in the hospital, where his ego hurts more than his bruises. In the closing moments, the camera pulls back and views the teens’ neighborhood as if from space, hinting that unlike the characters, we have the distance to realize that the tragedies of their world are in fact quite small.

Sponsored By:

Québec Government Representative in Los Angeles

For ticketing information please phone 1-866-345-6337 or email boxoffice@filmindependent.org