Derrière moi

Though infused with a number of admittedly positive elements, including an impressively lived-in performance from star Carina Caputo, Derrière moi ultimately comes off as an egregiously slow-moving drama that’s only able to hold one’s interest in fits and starts. The paper-thin storyline revolves around a mysterious figure (Caputo’s Betty) as she arrives in a small Quebec town and subsequently befriends a local teen named Lea (Charlotte Legault). There’s not a whole lot more to Derrière moi than that, as writer/director Rafaël Ouellet devotes long stretches of the proceedings to Betty and Lea’s casual and downright uneventful encounters (ie the pair spend a lot of time just talking and hanging out). The question surrounding Betty’s true motives (ie is she simply looking to make friends or does she want something more?) can only carry the movie so far, with the almost egregiously laid-back pace eventually proving effective in diminishing the strength of Caputo and Legault’s subtle work. And although the film’s finale is admittedly quite stirring, Derrière moi is inevitably a victim of its own art-house sensibilities (ie the movie’s punchline isn’t quite powerful enough to warrant such an overtly deliberate build-up).

** out of ****