Death is no stranger to family films. Grief, yes. Although it is not uncommon for the main character of a cartoon to lose a parent, their quest will not be one of facing the emptiness caused by the departure of a loved one, but rather of growing up faster than expected .
Echo in Delta addresses the subject in a sensitive and original way.
Aged 10 and 7, brothers Étienne (Isak Guinard Butt) and David Taché (Elliot Cormier) are close. They have the same interests and the same friends. They also believe in aliens. YouTuber Ovnina (Cat Lemieux) fuels their passion with her videos of dubious credibility. One stormy evening, she broadcasts a message live encouraging her subscribers to go “outside” to scan the sky. Lightning falls on the two boys. Only Étienne will wake up in the hospital.
Since only euphemisms are used with him and the coffin is closed at the funeral, Étienne imagines that David was kidnapped by the aliens. He will convince almost all of his friends and they will investigate.
The camaraderie between the young people is endearing and funny. Their interactions are authentic and their acting natural.
In addition to the group of mischievous children, director Patrick Boivin and screenwriter Jean-Daniel Desroches have integrated into the story a surprising friendship between Étienne and Steve (Martin Dubreuil, both withdrawn and affable), the tender-hearted owner of a “scrap yard”, as well as ingenious visual elements. Origami, frame-by-frame animation (stop motion) and car-ship come together to illustrate the imagination of young people and lighten the subject.
Maxim Gaudette and Catherine De Léan, who play Isak’s parents, are relegated to the background, but deliver moments of great emotion. The music of Alexis Le May and Michèle Motard also adds to the strength of the emotions felt.
We watched Echo in Delta as a family and the questions from the 8-year-old boy alongside us as well as the discussions that followed fueled our appreciation of the film. Patrick Boivin has created a work that delicately addresses a taboo subject by filtering it through a child’s imagination.
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Drama
Echo in Delta
Patrick Boivin
With Isak Guinard Butt, Maxim Gaudette and Catherine De Léan
1:29 a.m.