Slalom (2020)

Excellent, Disturbing Drama - Slalom review by GI

This French drama is very impactive, a story of sexual exploitation and grooming in sport, in this case championship skiing. Impeccably acted and beautifully shot the film has the power to act on the viewer by lulling you into believing this is about a young girl with huge potential undergoing her journey to success whereas it's about the casual acts of her coach to abuse her. Lyz (Noée Abita), a 15 year old ski protegé, is a member of the training camp of former ski champion Fred (Jérémie Renier). He sees her potential for the Olympics as a downhill racer and bullies and harangues her to get better and better. His subtle grooming of her exploiting her loneliness (her mother works away leaving her alone much of the time) and abilities culminates in his sexual abuse of her. First time director Charlène Favier cleverly shows how, when the sexual approaches happen, they are awfully inevitable as Fred has carefully spent many months getting Lyz used to his intimate touching which he disguises as coaching. Liz is torn between the emotional fear and angst and wanting to reach her full potential as a champion. This makes this film a powerful story of abuse that makes one wonder how endemic it is in all sports. A film I recommend, horrifying on many levels but passionately portrayed and directed to highlight this behaviour and its consequences.