The Fireflies Are Gone is a 2018 Canadian drama film directed by Sébastien Pilote. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Canadian Film
Review
- Great performance by Karelle Tremblay (+1)
- Good “slice of life” story of non-urban regions (+0)
- Very nice cinematography (+1/2)
- The ending is oddly… fulfilling (+1/2)
I’m not a huge fan of Quebec cinema—it often comes across as self-indulgent navel-gazing—but this movie is in a class of its own. It’s a down-to-earth human story with flawed characters, among which Léo (Karelle Tremblay) flies like a carefree butterfly (or, in this case, firefly). It’s a movie about nuances and freedom, about living in the moment rather than in the past or future, and while I was expecting to be immensely bored, I found myself enjoying the pastel ride all the way to the end.
Score: 7/10