Sister is as bleak and as beautiful as its snowy, mountainous setting.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Sister may not arrive at a happy ending, but the lack of resolution -- capped off by the powerful last image --completes its journey to a place of rousing emotional clarity.
New York Post by Farran Smith Nehme
Meier's tight focus on her primary characters pays off: Seydoux brings a strong array of emotions to a highly unsympathetic part. And Klein, whether plugging his ears with cigarette filters or suddenly embracing a woman he barely knows, is heartbreaking.
Slant Magazine by Jesse Cataldo
Ursula Meier's film is sustained by a sturdy emotional engine and some intrepidly thoughtful characterization.
Wall Street Journal by John Anderson
Likely to create considerable nervous tension among viewers who think they've seen this all before. They haven't.
Meier is clearly carving out a path all her own; the next one should be a gem.
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
Trading the cooler, more emotionally detached style and vibe that characterized "Home," her debut feature, about a family falling apart, Ms. Meier quietly goes for the emotional jugular in Sister.
Sister offers several reasons why the boy can't or won't return to ski-resort robbery next winter. But the movie also quietly suggests that, whatever he does, Simon will always be the boy from down below, boldly impersonating someone born to the heights.
Writer/director Ursula Meier uses a stripped-down, naturalistic aesthetic full of well-organized compositions that pay close attention to shifts in character mood, comportment, and behavior.
In an unusually subtle performance by a child actor, Kacey Mottet Klein stars as a crafty ragamuffin.