Most ghost stories center around love. Finding love, lost love, unspoken love. Ghosts are a very lovestruck group. Falcon Lake is a coming of age story about a thirteen-year-old named Bastien (Joseph Engel) on summer vacation. When he meets the older Chloe (Sara Montpetit), it sounds like any other story about a summer romance. Until the ghost of a drowned boy gets involved.
Falcon Lake is not an adventure movie, but an argument can be made that it misses the tone. In a tale about finding first love and teenage urges, there will be plenty of peaks and valleys. Director Charlotte Le Bon (Fresh) captures the playfulness and uncertainty of youth, but does so with an almost oppressive atmosphere that works against the mood the film seems to want to capture. This leads to many jarring moments for the audience.
Visually, the horror aspects add a dimension not normally seen in coming of age films. The plot is as sexually charged and awkward as expected, but there are also clever visual cues that are straight out of a slasher. The spooky aesthetic also lends itself to some of the more comedic aspects of Falcon Lake.
The characters bring everything together. There is some familiarity to them, but they are still well developed teenagers. Falcon Lake uses moments of silence as opposed to clumsy dialogue to flesh out Bastien and Chloe. It is a nice change of pace that allows time to soak in each interaction. There is a deep connection between the two.
In the end, Falcon Lake is another indie film about summer love. What separates it from other movies in the genre is its willingness to use darker elements without going full blown horror. The result is a tonally strange but haunting watch.
Falcon Lake opens in select theaters June 2
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