Simón de la montaña
Grand prix de la semaine de la critique at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Federico Luis, 2024, 1h 38 min

There can be no other view without other sounds. The first feature-length film by Argentinian director Federico Luis, for example, is a perfect example of this. First of all, there is the wind from the Andean heights, the obstinate and violent continuum that accompanies the high-altitude excursion - itself boisterous - of a group of neuroatypical young adults, whom the filmmaker has chosen to portray as hyperperceptive. This is what the film is all about, as evidenced shortly afterwards, on the way back from the mountain, by the hearing aid that a young climbing companion gives to Simon on the bus, and which very quickly becomes the film's emblematic object. It is this counterpoint to the hum of the usual inclusion scenarios that gives the film all its power. Simon, rather than wanting to hear the other, wants to hear like the other. And more precisely, to hear badly like the other. Although he himself is not - officially at least - disabled, his aim is to join the group that includes Pehuén, his new friend, and Kiara, with whom he could well fall in love. Actor Lorenzo Ferro is exceptional, playing a fascinating character devoid of any angelism, who navigates between two worlds and whose film never tells us whether he is acting or whether he ends up becoming who he chooses to be.

 Somewhere between romance, teen movie, existential comedy and family drama, Simón de la montaña comes very close to the top.

Thierry Méranger, Les Cahiers du Cinéma