MQFF NOTES: 1:54 (2016, Dir. Yan England)

It’s hard to watch a film crumble in front of your eyes, especially when the groundwork and much of the bricking is so clearly in place. 1:54, the debut feature from French Canadian film maker Yan England, is a case in point.

The film follows the bullying trauma of Tim (Mommy’s Antoine Olivier Pilon), as he struggles to survive in high school after the loss of his friend. To combat his grief and to exact his revenge, Tim throws himself into the track team to best the school’s head bully, Jeff Roy (Lou-Pascal Tremblay).

For much of 1:54’s runtime things seem to be on track. Pilon proves once again he his a film-anchoring lead and his journey back from the brink is well-drawn and well supported by the surrounding cast.

Unfortunately, England sells out his characters for the sake of a curious narrative turn, one foreshadowed from the beginning of his film but never earned from his screenplay. The result is a curiously capricious narrative that hangs Pilon out to dry and cannibalises the film’s thematic messaging on the impact of high school bullying.

None of this is to say that these turns couldn’t have been believable, just that they aren’t in England’s hands.

One that got away.

★★☆

Trailer:

1:54 screened as part of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2017. 

You can check out other films from the festival here.