Sister

Ursula Meier’s affecting drama—about 12-year-old thief Simon (Kacey Mottet Klein) and his life with an irresponsible older sister Louise (Léa Seydoux)—makes beautiful use of a visual metaphor to emphasize class distinctions: Simon’s criminal life is conducted amongst the pristine snowy Alpine peaks of a tony ski resort, where he ingeniously steals ski gear at every opportunity, while his motley home life with Louise takes place in a nondescript apartment located in the dirty slush of the valley below. That simple metaphor is an elegant example of the thoughtfulness and intelligence that permeate Meier’s tale. As Simon and Louise—with Simon often seeming the more adult of the two—try to make do in a world where the condition of a ski slope seems more important than the lives of those who live nearby, Meier brings a profound empathy to their plight.

"Seydoux is perfectly cast as the young woman who clearly cares for her little brother but who’s not mature enough to take things into her own hands. But the star of Sister is undoubtedly Mottet Klein (as the "child from up high" of the French title), for whom Meier specifically conceived the project. His combination of steadfast determination and confusion about where the boundaries in the adult world lie carry the film through to its perfect final shot…"—Boyd van Hoeij, Variety