Playground

Seven-year-old Nora is anxious about returning to school with her older brother Abel, and looks to him for reassurance. But when Nora witnesses Abel being bullied, the roles of responsibility between her and her brother become reversed.

Seven-year-old Nora is anxious about returning to school with her older brother Abel, and looks to him for reassurance. But when Nora witnesses Abel being bullied, the roles of responsibility between her and her brother become reversed. She wants to help him by telling their father, but Abel forbids her to. Nora is torn as to what she should do.

Director Laura Wandel keeps the camera at Nora’s eye height throughout her concise first feature, which when combined with the stunning naturalistic performance by Maya Vanderbeque as the young lead, immerses the viewer completely in both the emotion and action of this childhood story. An extraordinary debut, Playground is powerful, intelligent and quietly devastating.