Vanishing lines | Friendship, but not at all costs ★★★★

From the first scene of Vanishing lineswe feel, like Audrey, Valérie and Sabina, the excitement of a Friday evening that promises to be festive.

Emilie Cote
The Press

They have just ended their working week by listening to the cultural chronicle of Valérie (Léane Labrèche-Dor), who calls the host of her radio show “mononcle”.

To the sound of the tubes Say It Rightby Nelly Furtado, and Drinking in LAby Bran Van 3000, they are getting ready for their big reunion.

“Montreal is not ready for three Beauceronnes we fire ! “says Mariana Mazza, who plays the character of Sabina, a daughter of immigrants who has a successful career in the field of finance.

Audrey the accountant (Catherine Chabot) and her fiancé (Maxime de Cotret) have to travel from Beauce to Montreal, while Valérie (Léane Labrèche-Dor) returns home by bike to find her boyfriend somewhat snobbish intellectual (Mickaël Gouin) with whom she shares environmental values ​​and an open couple. As for Sabina, she is planning the final preparations for the end of the evening which must take place in her luxurious condo.

Everyone first meets at the opening of Amber, Sabina’s girlfriend (played by Victoria Diamond). But quickly, the happiness of finding each other will fade in favor of uncomfortable conversations and settling of accounts.

The three friends obviously no longer have the same values ​​or the same ideals. They confront their ideas while being jealous of what they don’t have of each other… Everything passes: “the vortex of motherhood”, “transcending one’s social class”, “the agony of future”, as well as eco-anxiety.

The dialogues avoid clichés and are enjoyable, as are the references to the 2000s.People’s Albumby François Pérusse, and the song And so onby Gabrielle Destroismaisons, which the girls sing along to the karaoke.

A dramatic comedy in all its glory

Catherine Chabot adapted her play Vanishing lines by co-writing the screenplay with Émile Gaudreault and sharing the production with Miryam Bouchard (My own circus, December 23, Do you hear me? ). She thus gives birth to a film as funny as it is striking, but above all in the (charged) air of the times. Say Vanishing lines lives up to its comedy-drama title.

The directors made good use of the postcard that is Montreal, especially along the Lachine Canal. While the first half of the film has an urban nightlife vibe, a 45-minute camera in Sabina’s condo leads us to the end…

We then fully appreciate the murderous replies of the characters. Even sweet Amber will go on a charge against French-speaking Quebecers with whom it is difficult to get in touch despite appearances.

The acting is also very accurate, but let’s emphasize that Mariana Mazza surprises us playing with an unsuspected restraint given her very expressive natural temperament.

Vanishing lines has everything from a good film as intelligent as it is entertaining with a salutary duration of 90 minutes. Young people at the crossroads of their thirties will be particularly challenged by the themes of success, parenthood and recognition, but all generations will find themselves in the inner struggle of the characters.

We all feel at some point in our lives a disconnect between who we are and who we want to be. Between our thirst for consumption and our desire to improve the fate of the planet. Between the care to preserve old friendships and the desire to free oneself from them.

Indoors

Drama

Vanishing lines

By Catherine Bouchard and Miriam Bouchard.
With Mariana Mazza, Catherine Chabot, Léane Labrèche-Dor, Mickaël Gouin, Victoria Diamond and Maxime de Cotret.

1:35 a.m.

★★★★