jeremie renier

In her impressive debut feature, co-writer/director Charlène Favier daringly tackles the abhorrent sports coaches who sexually abuse their talented athletes. Zeroed in on ski trainer Fred and his most promising student, Lyz Lopez, Slalom makes a strong statement, addressing the victimization head on without ever exploiting the repulsive interaction with titillating moments, as too often happens with molestation stories.

Slalom is one of the best of many recent strong films — Promising Young Woman, The Assistant, Groomed and Athlete A among them — that fit under the #metoo umbrella as they examine young women and girls exploited and harassed by predatory men. With its assured tone and sharp visual style, Slalom is a realistic coming of age film with a contemporary bite. It is a remarkable debut feature from French director and co-writer Charlene Favier that unwinds like a tightly balled fist.

For 15-year-old Lyz (Noée Abita), the chance to take part in a high-level ski training programme in the French Alps doesn’t just represent professional opportunity, but the chance to find a place to belong. With her father absent and her mother (Muriel Combeau) having effectively abandoned her daughter for a new love in Marseille, Lyz is already adrift before she is thrust into this challenging regime, where she is judged over everything from her weight to her form.