Three Cannes films share a coming-of-age focus on troubled young people dealing with daily issues and larger adult questions. “The Meltdown” by Manuela Martelli is a mood-driven drama that leans toward thriller tension without using procedural mystery. Set in an Andean ski resort in Chile in 1992, it follows nine-year-old Ines watching older teens, especially Hanna, who attracts predatory attention from older men. When Hanna disappears, suspicion falls on a boy she spoke with or her tough instructor. Hanna’s mother Lina arrives to search, while the film maintains confusion through Ines’s perspective, emphasizing lost emotions and the ease of getting lost at night.
"The best of the three is Manuela Martelli's "The Meltdown," a drama that borders on being a thriller but eschews procedural mystery elements in favor of consistent mood. It's a well-made film that feels a bit narratively thin, but that almost feels intentional. After all, it's a film about confused emotions and how easy it is for something or someone to get lost in the night. So it should kind of slip through your fingers. Martelli is clearly a talented filmmaker, and her work here marks her as someone to watch going forward."
""The Meltdown" unfolds in an Andean ski resort in Chili in 1992. Nine-year-old Ines (Maya O'Rourke) is staying there with her grandparents, watching the bigger kids ski gracefully up and down the mountain. She's particularly taken with the 15-year-old Hanna (Maia Rae), who it seems like she kind of looks up to like a big sister. Hanna's beauty has drawn the attention of the older men around her, giving the early scenes of "The Meltdown" a sense of predatory dread."
"When Hanna literally disappears one night, fingers point at a boy she had been talking to or possibly even her tough instructor. Her mother Lina (an excellent Saskia Rosendahl) comes to the region to join in the search and Martelli maintains a delicate tone that's closer to confusion than procedural. Part of this is maintained by how much we see through Ines' eyes, a girl who just wants her friend back more than anything else."
Read at Roger Ebert
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