VIFF: Sleeping Giant (review #2)

My VIFF buddy Meaghan loved Sleeping Giant so much that I told her she could submit a review for it if she wanted, even though it was one of my picks! I did want to say a few things about the film however, which I also enjoyed.

If you took summertime, teenage angst, coming out, boys and bullies, and family drama and shook it all up in a jar of fireflies, this is the film you would get. Remember when everyone was going crazy for that movie Boyhood? I hated Boyhood. I thought it was gimmicky. Sleeping Giant, however? So much better than Boyhood!!

I was very pleasantly surprised with this film because it kept taking these twists and turns that you don't really expect, but that aren't totally out of the realm of possibility either. At first I was annoyed with the kid actors who play Riley and Nate, but then realized they were actually portraying their roles as annoying teenagers to a tee. Then enters Adam, played by Jackson Martin, who delivers such a beautiful, tender, and subtle performance of a young boy coming to terms with his sexuality, crushing on the boy next door, and dealing with family issues at the same time.

Even though Adam's sexuality comes into play, it isn't the main focus of the film. Rather, it's a combination of all that craziness one feels during this time of growing up that the film successfully manages to capture.

Sleeping Giant is on today (September 27) at 4pm at International Village and again on September 30th at SFU Woodwards at 1:15pm.