Whitewash (2013) Directed by Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais

This is yet again one of those movies that by no means is a must-see but when you do decide to watch it, you most likely won't regret it.

It's hard to describe this movie or to compare it to anything else, since it's foremost really doing its own thing. It's not necessarily a movie with a clear beginning, middle and end in it and it doesn't feature, what most people would consider to be, traditional storytelling.

Not saying that it's a complicated, or difficult to follow movie though. It's actually a very straightforward one, in which it always gets straight to its point and never tries to sugarcoat anything. It makes this a pretty gritty and realistic feeling movie, that therefore also manages to work out as an engaging one.

It's dealing with some very basic but also relatable themes such as guilt, moral dilemmas and freezing your butt off when it is cold! Even though the movie doesn't explain everything and it doesn't feature an awful lot of dialog in it either, it's still not hard to tell what is going on in the main character's mind throughout the movie. It's thanks to the subtle storytelling and directing of the movie by Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais, that never leaves anything up to doubt, without constantly having to spoon feed you the story.

Things of course also work out well for the movie due to Thomas Haden Church's subtle and restrained performance. He normally doesn't really play leading roles in movies but with this one he shows that he's also perfectly capable of carrying a movie on his own, since he actually is the only character on screen for about 70% of the movie its running time.

It's also a well shot movie, that manages to capture the cold and isolation of rural Quebec and helps to set the right type of tone and atmosphere for the story of the movie.

Definitely a good and effective minimalist movie, that's worth a watch.

7/10

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