The Giants

Little White Lies“Wistful, beautiful-looking but as transient as that land of lost content...” The golden light and lush valley setting may take the harsh edge off the film’s bleaker moments, but there’s still a core of gleeful savagery which is ultimately tempered by the looming adult world and the numbness of abandonment...

The Independent“Marthe Keller provides a charming cameo as a surrogate mum...” Writer-director Bouli Lanners values patience and the silent drama of the human face, allowing his young cast all the time they need to convey insecurity, boredom, fear and the sudden emergencies of fending for oneself...

The Telegraph“Lanners has an obvious kinship with neglected youngsters...” Director and co-writer Bouli Lanners spins a slight tale from their exploits, but it has a melancholic charm amplified by both the dewily lensed landscapes and a tingly soundtrack by the folk musician The Bony King of Nowhere...

Guardian“Lanners' feckless youths need an extended siesta...” Bouli Lanners' coming-of-age tale is a lovely drunken roll of a movie, brightly played by its adolescent cast, luxuriating in a Belgian countryside of whispering grass and fairytale forests...

Total Film “Nothing too surprising happens...” Writer/Director Bouli Lanners makes effective use of a string of fairytale settings (woods, rivers, spooky houses) in this atmospheric coming-of-age yarn...

Time Out“Lanners paints his story a little hazily, perhaps...” Films seldom capture the quicksilver highs and lows of being young half as well as this light-touch Belgian drama...

Empire“Jean-Paul de Zaetijd’s verdant views are ravishing...” It suffers from an implausible and contrived plot, but the charming performances from the teenage leads greatly improve this film...