Written and directed by Manon Coubia, three women rotate caring for an Alpine hut. As hikers pass through the seasons, tales emerge and dissolve, leaving them to contemplate their solitary lives amid nature’s poetry. Starring: Salomé Richard, Aurélia Petit, Anne Coesens, Arthur Marbaix and Yoann Zimmer.
Entering the world of Forest High, it’s surprising how much it gives off the feel of a documentary, but when you dig a little into how Manon Coubia made the film, using interactions with real people, that makes perfect sense. That has its advantages and disadvantages, it allows the events of the film to feel natural and organic. However, it can also feel as though it’s being overly observational, missing a guiding hand to create a tangible story for viewers to invest in.
That’s something which Forest High struggles with, as it’s asking for its audience to do most of the work, for the majority of the film. It’s presenting issues of isolation, loneliness and the various reasons why these women have sought solitude, but in a decidedly indirect way. What that results in is that you get the initial impression of the story but it’s lacking a connective tissue to bring it together in an impactful way.
The exception to that being the final chapter to its trilogy of caretakers, where it switches things up to a more traditional path. Anne Coesens gets the opportunity to bring clearer, compelling emotion to the table with her character. It’s still not direct or overt but being able to have a genuine conversation and connection, opens up the character so much more than with Salomé Richard and Aurélia Petit’s characters. All three of them give solid performances, but Coesens is much richer as she has so much more to work with. Her scenes feel like a representation of what Forest High could have been, but by choosing to take such a big step back for most of the film, it lets things wander too far and makes it more difficult to invest in.
Granted, there are some good visuals to help with that, unsurprisingly the locations are picturesque and the natural landscape in itself does add to the tone and atmosphere. Undoubtedly that helps to be able to intuit Manon Coubia’s intentions with Forest High and the thought process behind it. The themes are there but choosing a style that leaves them to their own devices so strongly, means that without the bigger insight that the filmmakers had and without doing research into the film beforehand, viewers aren’t going to get as much out of it.
Forest High had a good idea and great intentions, and it’s interesting viewing but doesn’t feel fully formed. Taking such an observational, natural approach for two thirds of the film and letting it simply meander through its scenes makes it difficult to get into. The visuals do compensate for that but only to a certain extent, until it finally arrives at its last chapter and then the atmosphere and tone finally feel defined and touching, but it comes too late.
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