Cheltenham International Film Festival
Remember to Blink - part of the Cheltenham International Film Festival
This screening forms part of Cheltenham International Film Festival, which marks its 5th anniversary in 2023. The festival will screen new films from around the world, plus film classics and is adding television, and new live events to its programme, along with guest celebrities.
Simmering tensions play out in a serene mountain setting in this captivating first feature.
French couple Jacqueline (Anne Azoulay) and Leon (Arthur Igual) agree to adopt two Lithuanian children. To help with initial language difficulties and cultural transition, they hire young student Gabriele (Dovile Kundrotaite). At first it seems an ideal environment for this new family, but as the children begin to form a close bond with their Lithuanian speaking carer, Jacqueline’s controlling ways are about to be tested by the more subtly manipulative Gabriele.
The serenity of the remote mountainous French setting provides the perfect foil for the simmering tension that unfolds in this intricate and absorbing of study of culture clash, jealousy and control. Impressively directed, performed and shot, you may indeed need to remember to blink as this captivating psychological drama excepts its grip.