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What is it about?

Leah, 17 years old, is relaxing on a dreary summer day. This monotonous torment is interrupted by her chance meeting with Tom, an older man with a destructive charm that will allow the young girl to escape from the disillusioned teenager. But Tom’s presence becomes more and more felt and ends up alienating Leah from her family. Then he realizes that his intentions are not so innocent.

A sophisticated, contemporary novel about manipulation and consent

First, Palm Trees And Power Lines was a short film. Screened at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, it touched on themes dear to its director, Jamie Deke. “I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the relationships I had in my youthHe tells The Playlist, And how I thought I was in control. But now that I’m an adult and looking back, I realize that wasn’t the case at all. I wanted to write this character to be a kind of alter ego that I was, that allowed me to explore what had happened to me, but also what could have happened to me.”

The character of Leah, played by the young Lily McInerney, immediately evokes the sympathy of viewers from all walks of life, as she sends them a reflection of a common youth: the hot and gloomy summer, the boredom of knowing what a teenager is. Novels that leave you speechless… In the California suburbs, where palm trees and electric balloons hug her shoulders and stalk her like predators, Leah wanders in search of adventure.

In this frozen chaos, Tom’s character appears as salvation. Confident and seductive, this loving, brotherly and fatherly figure liberates as many as it imprisons. From his words to his hugs, everything about Tom is isolating, so Leah soon finds herself in the position of a predator. Having already appeared in Virgin Suicides, Westworld and Charlie’s Angels, Jonathan Tucker is amazing in his performance in times of uncertainty.

The first feature film that does not go unnoticed

Crowned with the Jury Prize at the Deauville International Festival and the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the project Jamie Deck It seems to be on the way to success.

The key to this success? Talented performers, of course, but also the precision of the meticulous staging, despite its apparent simplicity. Glances and Hugs skillfully translate the progressive influence, set against a California sunset, as sublime as they are unsettling, immersing the viewer in a landscape of sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter duality.

Terrifying, the illusion of consent that the predator manages to instill in his new companion is all the more exciting because the viewer, far from being deceived, is witness to the many clues that the director allows him to perceive. Will it be too late for Leah when her relationship takes a turn for the worse?

Palm trees and power lines You can see it exclusively at UniversCiné from April 27.