Sister

Twelve year old Simon lives in a cheap block below a Swiss ski resort, rides the lift up, steals skis, goggles and packed lunches from the tourists, and sells them to keep the household running. Wealth is above, poverty is below, and the cable car is the only connection between them. The young woman he lives with, Louise, keeps disappearing. Ursula Meier drops the film's real piece of information somewhere in the middle, and it forces you to reread everything about that relationship. Kacey Mottet Klein plays the boy, Léa Seydoux the sister. Class is built geographically here, so the subject is never discussed, only shown. It took a special Silver Bear at Berlin. Who it is for: viewers who follow European social realism and stories told from a child's position. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a warm family story, since this one is broken throughout.