Reactions visible to anyoneReactions visible to owner’s Close FriendsReactions only visible to youDraft entryVisible to anyone (with link)Visible to the member’s friends (with link)Only visible to you
on its initial surface, Slalom seems to take the main route of a typical sports drama. rigorous training, negative encouragement, and jealous schoolmates thicken the pressure to win ski races and the distantly simmering, uneasy maternal relationship. but it glides and slips to other territories, wrapped up in its wintry weather and saddled by the continuous snowfall, where abuse materialises at the hands of the trainer. for some of us craving for appreciation and attention we endlessly look for, it's easy to mistake their deceitful sightings as suitable. it’s difficult to extricate ourselves from them. and the feeling of any kind of validation that lasts in mere seconds follows regret, disgust and hatred of one's self. manipulation takes away and destructs parts of ourselves as we turn into something else. the few skin-crawling, flinching physical violations the film shows horrify without being excessively blatant. and it underlines a selfish, one-sided sexual pleasure, the other a mere object of lust. despite, perhaps, its hastened slide up its climactic slope, it neared me to tears once the mom holds her daughter close, comforting her with a sincere declaration of simple words: "I'm proud of you." afterwards, it magnificently settles with the lights at the race arena, the evening coated with mild snow dust, the last word firmly uttered minutes before it terminates gives control and courage. enough is enough.
Letterboxd is an independent service created by a small team, and we rely mostly on the support of our members to maintain our site and apps. Please consider upgrading to a Pro account—for less than a couple bucks a month, you’ll get cool additional features like all-time and annual stats pages (example), the ability to select (and filter by) your favorite streaming services, and no ads!
