Sister – L’Enfant d’en Haut (2012)

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Avg Rating: 4 / 5. Voted: 26

No one cared thus far. Do you?

AKA: Sister, L’Enfant d’en Haut
Year: 2012
Directed by: Ursula Meier
Starring: Lea Seydoux (Louise), Kacey Mottet Klein (Simon), Gillian Anderson (English Lady), Martin Compston (Resort employee)
Country: Switzerland
Language: French (English subtitles)
Runtime: 01:33:23
Genres: Misery/Depressing, Siblings

Plot – Spoilers:
It’s tourist time at a ski resort and also boom time for Simon, a young thief who lives at the bottom of the mountain with his elder sister Louise. Louise is a reluctant worker and doesn’t hesitate to dig into Simon’s earnings to indulge in clothes, cigarettes and booze. It is a brittle relationship with Simon at his young age having donned the role of provider while Louise convinces herself that it’s all good by occasionally telling him to keep the risks low. Midway into the movie, a deeper secret is revealed which puts into perspective their relationship.

Simon only rarely reveals his loneliness and for the most part acts older than his age. He is focused on earning money and doesn’t seem to indulge in any other activities with kids his age. In fact, despite being a specialist in skis, he hasn’t even learned to ski. This has its advantages though as he rarely loses his nerve while bargaining with older customers and is comfortable negotiating deals with some of them.

Favourite Scenes (Massive Spoilers):
1. Louise is a reluctant (very young) mother and never seemed socially or biologically ready for motherhood. There are moments when it is clear she cares for Simon but the fact that she is still young and hopeful of finding love and a boyfriend forces her to push Simon away. She keeps running away only to return, usually when she is broke and out of money and so Simon appears to be convinced that the only way to keep Louise with him is by literally paying her for her company. There is no scene that conveys this better than when Simon, following a huge fight with Louise, offers to pay her to allow him to lie in bed with her – a basic thing most kids get to do for free.

2. On one occasion when Louise is away with a new boyfriend, Simon is taken in by an English lady at the resort with her kids and sidles up to her, even offering to pay for lunch. That scene and the one later when she discovers his lies and theft are quite telling. For one, she seems quite a stuck up and self-righteous lady who can’t seem to look beyond the silly lies told by a kid when all he’s doing is pleading with her for small acts of kindness and love. I’m a little unsure about the theft – did he do it out of spite after being rejected by her or is it his habitual nature that would have kicked in anyway? What do you think? Whatever the facts, her cold dismissal of the two only reinforces for Simon how much of an outsider he is at the resort.

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MoeFo
MoeFo
August 29, 2023 5:08 pm

This one time I’ll have to tell the retard who is providing the synopsis that they’re a fucking stupid cunt. You’re dismayed that the woman who was extremely nice AND TRUSTING of this little piece of SHIT… who stole from her and lied to her – seemed to be uppity??? What fucking planet did you come from?? As soon as this flic started I HATED that little POS thief scumbag and wanted him to get run over by a train and ripped to shreds. There is NO honor among thieves. My dad taught my brother and I that when we were young children. Total disregard for others = zero humility – which leads to being capable of ANYTHING; like selling your own mother, pushing someone off a building, whatever – if you benefit. I was hoping toward the end when they were actually fighting in the dirt.. that they both struck each other in the head with a rock at the same time and they both died. Yep; the POS mother helped to create the POS boy, but the story showed us that he was wise for his years, enough to be able to accomplish things that were incredible…y BAD. So he also was capable of things which adults can DECIDE = life is always about CHOICES. FUCK these POS scumbags. They would make great politicians (also the scum of the earth today). That makes 2 movies in a row (after watching Bog of Beasts) that were TERRIBLE with no… Read more »

The White Horseman
The White Horseman
May 18, 2023 1:26 pm

Incredibly slow.

Bono
Bono
November 29, 2022 4:10 pm

Fucking Dyke shit

jack surf
jack surf
March 25, 2022 5:04 am

boring movie

chu
chu
February 25, 2021 6:42 am

nice movie. a little slow and not as fucked up as other movies on this site. but nice performances and a heart touching story

Chris Ramirez
Chris Ramirez
October 21, 2020 11:42 am

A story of a true & real hustler!