Review: ‘Giant Little Ones’ wonders what it’s like to love without labels (Includes first-hand account)

Being a teenager is probably one of the most complex phases of a person’s life. While it lacks much of the responsibility of being an adult, it feels like everything occurs under a microscope so it’s magnified and all-encompassing. The slightest misstep can make you a social pariah, while a seemingly trivial act can make you a god. There are some rules so it’s not all completely arbitrary, but they change with the tides so no one and nothing are ever truly safe — someone can be atop a high school’s mountain one minute and mangled at its base the next. Giant Little Ones captures all these intricacies in just a few weeks of an adolescent’s life.

Franky (Josh Wiggins) and Ballas (Darren Mann) have been friends since they were kids. Now, they’re stars of the swim team, popular with girls and having the best possible high school experience. At home, Franky struggles with his parents’ divorce, having decided to side with his mother (Maria Bello) when his father (Kyle MacLachlan) left them for another man. Nonetheless, he’s a pretty typical teen and nothing can stop him from having an epic, no adult house party to celebrate his 17th birthday. But an incident abruptly puts a stop to the revelry and threatens to end a long-time friendship. Rumours turn to violence and Franky is left to deal with the fallout alone… until he renews his relationship with Ballas’ younger sister, Natasha (Taylor Hickson).

The further teens are in this phase of their lives, the more pressure they feel to have it all sorted out. But it’s also an incredibly confusing time, during which they’re trying new things and making a lot of mistakes that could have a lasting impact. Franky’s friend, Mouse (Niamh Wilson), is an overt example of a harmless search for self, which leads to the most awkward instance of show-and-tell. Meanwhile, Franky and Ballas are practically high school royalty, so the moment a potential threat to their positions arises Ballas unnecessarily goes on the offensive to secure his status. Natasha sums up her brother’s actions perfectly in an eye-opening conversation with Franky and from that point forward their mutual understanding of Ballas’ insecurity renews their bond.

It’s a tough and unfair lesson for Franky to endure, but it gradually makes him a better man. The audience spends half the movie without knowing exactly what happened, making it clear the details are less important than their implications. Wiggins delivers an exceptional performance in which he explicitly demonstrates Franky’s rollercoaster of emotions and eventual growth. The repercussions of the incident are pretty extreme at times, yet his portrayal feels entirely genuine. Similarly, Hickson is portraying a young woman who’s been through a lot and she does so with an authentic mix of strength and vulnerability.

Canadian writer/director Keith Behrman’s sophomore feature is a thoughtful examination of the harm that comes from a need for labels and how empowering it can be to stop needing them to define one’s relationships. His use of an eclectic soundtrack into which Franky regularly escapes is also a key element in shaping this youthful world.

Love can change your life. See @giantlittleones in Canadian theatres MARCH 29. #LoveWithoutLabels ❤️ pic.twitter.com/CVNHXDa9MU

— Mongrel Media (@MongrelMedia) March 8, 2019

Director: Keith Behrman
Starring: Josh Wiggins, Darren Mann and Taylor Hickson

Similar Posts

  • Review: ‘Dark Places’ is an evocative well of deceit and despair

    Childhood trauma is often accompanied by deep regret. Moving forward is difficult, but one way is to accept what happened and in some cases, convince yourself you did everything that was in your power at the time. Revisiting those long past events, whatever the cause, can be as upsetting as the original incident — or it can reveal hidden truths that provide a new perspective on the affair, which were never considered or purposely concealed. Dark Places centres on such a mystery in which hindsight makes all the difference.

  • Review: TIFF 2015: ‘Colonia’ is a battle of wills with no clear winners (Includes first-hand account)

    Secret government operations serve many purposes and generally exist under the guise of providing protection to the country and its citizens. However, the means by which this security is attained often ranges from controversial to indefensible. Organized networks of terror and interrogation are not unheard of, but the arrangement exposed in Chile several decades ago is one of the most unsettling systems to come to light. Colonia goes behind the electrified fences to illustrate the oppression wielded in the name of God and country.

  • Review: ‘The Lost City of Z’ pits ignorance against elusive evidence (Includes first-hand account)

    To this day, archeologists continue to discover evidence of previously unknown civilizations, and biologists regularly find new animal and plant species in formerly unexplored lands. But just more than a century ago, the most cultured societies were convinced those found living beyond the borders of establishment could not have developed any level of sophistication worthy of acknowledgement or examination. Referring to these people as “savages,” their value to humanity is dismissed and they are relegated to servants and slaves. In The Lost City of Z (pronounced “zed”), one man tries to convince the world of the existence and value of the yet undocumented Mayans.

  • Review: ‘The Red Turtle’ accomplishes so much with such a simple approach (Includes first-hand account)

    While Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks dominate conversations about animated features, Laika and Studio Ghibli usually make it into the mix too; though they don’t always have the same level of name recognition, they’ve been responsible for some of the most acclaimed films of the last 20 years, including several Oscar-nominated titles. Their styles greatly differ as do the types of stories they choose to tell, but one is almost never disappointed with the end product. Studio Ghibli’s latest movie is somewhat of a departure even for them as they partnered with a foreign animator to make their first non-Japanese picture, The Red Turtle.