Following her debut feature HOME, Franco-Swiss filmmaker Ursula Meier’s SISTER (L’enfant D’en Haut) is a straightforward and tender film that depicts a simple tale of survival, and the bonds that tie its two protagonists so closely together.

Starring new French actress Léa Seydoux and HOME actor Kacey Mottet Klein, SISTER sees Meier revisiting the themes of isolation and abandonment which were delicately mined in her previous film. Here they are fleshed out in a languid and seamless way that is reminiscent of a typical Dardenne brothers’ perusal through human fragility (the film is comparable to this year’s THE KID WITH A BIKE). Meier couples together an intense visual and narrative naturalism with a story of desperation, boundaries, and uplifting love.

… the dynamics of their close relationship gradually shift, slowly tilting under the weight of an unspeakable secret …

Where the metaphorical divide in HOME was depicted by a fabled stretch of disused highway, here Meier constructs symbolism through another means of transport: two social rungs are strung uneasily together by a dangling ski lift, which divides a moneyed resort with the more hard-working denizens of the valley below. Klein plays Simon, a 12-year-old who lives with his sister in the industrial valley. Fiercely independent and street smart, Simon is a prolific thief who preys on the unwitting and carefree holidaymakers of the resort, pinching their pricey gear and selling it off to make ends meet. The sole breadwinner in an apparently parentless household, Simon’s calculating (and not to mention profitable) operation is increasingly scuppered by sister Louise (Seydoux), whose recklessness and child-like irresponsibility begins to threaten their confined way of life. As the dynamics of their close relationship gradually shift, slowly tilting under the weight of an unspeakable secret, Simon and Louise start to come to terms with an immediate and harsh future, one that will test their entirely interdependent connections.

SISTER is a minimalist and almost painfully realistic tale of familial angst…

Impressively shot with a thoughtful eye for the discordant nature between the sparse and exacting mountain and the greying, ugly landscape below, SISTER is a minimalist and almost painfully realistic tale of familial angst a character lead drama augmented by affecting performances. Featuring in every scene, Klein more than holds his own against a more restrained but tenderly rendered Seydoux; his Simon is a startlingly erudite character, a headstrong pre-teen whose sticky fingers labour to ensure relative comfort for his sister’s – to whom he is devoted. Striking and uncomplicated, Meier’s impressive second film is nothing but effortless, quietly moving without over-stressing itself.

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