Red Rocks

The red cliffs and sparkling waters of the Côte d'Azur provide the perfect playground for precocious, blond-haired Géo (Kaylon Lancel) and his loyal posse of pals. With zero adult supervision, they spend their summer cliff-jumping and tooling about town in mini motorised vehicles, testing their pint-sized limits. An opposing gang of youths emerges, and Géo takes an immediate liking to Eve (Kelsie Verdeilles) – but she’s already spoken for. A small-scale, freewheeling, Romeo and Juliet-esque tale, Red Rocks is another singular, playful entry in the wide-ranging filmography of French auteur Bruno Dumont (France, 2021; Camille Claudel 1915, SFF 2013). Both documentary-like and hyperreal, it captures the innocence, vulnerability and chaos of childhood with thrilling immediacy.