Am I Missing Something?

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Based on the short film of the same name helmed by the same director. I recently saw many Canadian films, so here comes another one. This is a small film. Not by running time, but cast and production wise. A summer vacation tale, focused on the three boys. You know, summer is always a game changer for kids. This is the season where they learn about the other side of the world. Most of the coming-of-age events take place. Surely this is another one, but I liked it very much.The title could imply many things, but one of the meanings was the same as 'coming-of-age'. I meant, suddenly if you learn something, you realise its significance, then you won't be same as before. You try to act accordingly in the given situation. Like any teen films, you can expect fun stuffs from this. The adventure was good. Not thrilling ones, but like what normal kids do. What I most hated was harming insects. It might be nothing for the majority of people on the planet, but that was a disturbing image for me. I had almost turned the film down.There's no intro. The story just began and moved forward. Because it is easy to get along. Even the narration did not stick to any one's particular perspective. Though most of the time it was Adam's. The teenager came with his parents to spend the summer at their cottage located Canadian side of the Erie Lake. With two friends, he set to venture places around for fun. He's a decent kind, but not the other two. So because of them, he learns their way of making the day. But there's a limit for everything. Once that limit crossed, the story takes a turn and head straight for the finale.❝Should take the opportunity while it's open, before it closes.❞The film was predictable. Not like scene by scene, dialogues, but what might happen next. That's probably not by everyone. From the opening few minutes itself, I knew there's something big is coming up. But I had to wait for it till the last. I haven't seen the original short, though this story was so perfect for that kind. They extended it and I liked those developments which added more details, familiarising the characters and the situation. The writing was the tricky one. Not smartly done, though convincing one. There's always a clue left behind for what might come later, like a straightforward storytelling. So you basically watch it looking forward to that event.Still, the film was interesting enough to hook up with it. The film characters were awesome, very distinctive, which made the film possible. Though some dialogues should have been better. Most of them were improvised, which sometimes feels cinematically unfamiliar. Nevertheless, nice job done by all the cast, particularly the three boys. For other than the cinephiles, the ending could be an unexpected, because of the lack of exposure on what film would turn which way.A good film for teenagers to watch, but not for anyone younger than that. Because thematically, it was slightly strong. Referred sex, but no nudes. This is being a Canadian film could be the reason not recognised widely, but it deserves better than that. Not just this one, but many fine similar films met with the same fate before. I'm ninety-nine per cent sure you have never heard this title before. But if you had watched and liked such as 'The Kings of Summer', 'Paranoid Park', then why not try this one. It won't be your film of the year, but there's less chance for you to dislike it.7/10

Having read the other reviews here, there is only one which I completely agree with. The signs are there if you look for them, but most people seem to have missed the fact that the Sleeping Giant is not only a teenager's anger, but perhaps moreso his sexuality beginning to burgeon with disastrous results. SPOILERS Where several other reviewers talk about a triangle of two teens wanting the same girl, in fact it is much more about one teen wanting his buddy but afraid to admit to it - and finding a way to discourage the girl from continuing her flirtation with the object of his affection (his buddy). There is one scene where his buddy says (I'm paraphrasing) "If you like someone you should tell them." and there is a second when he almost admits his love for the other boy... but we also understand that, when, in a later scene with his fathers "mistress", he says "There's something wrong with me" - it is really the admission that he has gay feelings. That other reviewers missed this doesn't surprise me; it is very nuanced in the telling, but any gay person will see the signs that others miss.As for the rest of the film, it is extremely well constructed, with so many moments of foreboding building to a climax that the tension is almost unbearable sometimes. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted, a gem.

"Sleeping Giant" is a low-key Canadian film that builds to an explosive climax; even if sensitive coming of age stories tend to give you the indie fidgets, I'd still recommend this one. It does start out slowly, with improv'd ensemble scenes (quite convincing), standard montages of teenagers doing carefree teenage stuff and gorgeous shots of the Lake Superior shoreline. The POV character, Adam, is too shy and passive to generate much storyline on his own—how many kids like that grow up make indie films?, I wonder—though the shaky family dynamic is laid out very nicely: A scene where Adam's well intentioned but clumsy dad urges him to start something with his childhood friend, Taylor—now a lovely young woman who's caught the eye of one of Adam's bad-boy cousins—signals clearly that Dad may be up to something himself… These and a few more wispy, unresolved subplots don't build up much momentum till the final scenes, beginning with a teenage tantrum that busts up a family Monopoly game… (I know, pretty Canadian, eh?) Great performances by the teenage principals, esp. first-time actor Nick Serino as another bad-boy cousin, Nate, the tantrum thrower. Not essential, but still quite watchable and available on streaming Netflix—otherwise how would we ever get to see it?

You could be forgiven for thinking that this is a monster film, but the "Sleeping Giant" to which the title refers is not actually some great, dozing behemoth. Rather, the giant in question is the pent- up, sleeping aggression that boils in a boy's mind, his violent nature that, for the good of himself and others, must be kept hidden and forgotten. Andrew Cividino's debut film, a haunting piece about three teenage boys who battle through their boredom on the shores of Lake Superior, explores this unsettling reality of the teenage experience with startling precision and a steady hand. With the majority of modern teenage cinema focussing on serving up ridiculous morbidity and sex objects on a badly-made platter (Hunger Games, I'm looking at you) and the celebrated classics of the genre focussing on created a homogenized teenage reality with which we supposedly all identify (Boyhood, I'm looking at you) this film, a film that dares to show a little truth, is an especially timely slap in the face. Not only that, but I can say with confidence that Sleeping Giant is the best film I've seen all year.Jackson Martin plays the protagonist of the film, Adam, a reticent fifteen-year old who exists, along with his friends Nate and Riley, in a state of perpetual boredom. Although the other two readily participate in all sorts of strange little schemes, it's Nate who drives them from one distraction to the next. Riley shares Nate's restlessness, but lacks the recklessness and bravado that solidifies Nate as the leader of the bunch. And Adam serves as the quiet voice of moderation, who goes mostly ignored, teetering on the fine line between retaining his principles and belonging with the people around him.It isn't just his friends who make him feel this way. Adam's father treats Riley better than he treats Adam, and the girl he likes, Taylor, is making eyes at Riley. But what is Adam to do? Living a secluded life and brimful of boredom, his friends offer the only available respite. So he goes along, robbing convenience stores (their getaway vehicle is a golf cart), smoking weed in a bum's trailer, and in a particularly anarchic scene, tying a firecracker to a skateboard. As the boys test the limits of their power, they grow more confident, more fearless, almost even suicidal. But don't you dare think that you're in for a coming-of-age film. This isn't a film about maturation. It's a film that addresses its subjects: teenage boys. It explores their hearts and minds, and the toxicity lurking in them. Nate is a stone-cold psycho, but it's frightening how recognizable he is. His dialogue is vulgar and bloated, but not unrealistic. And Nick Serino's performance is worthy of commendation ten times over.The direction is fantastic. The film is shot in an unabashedly Canadian fashion, reveling in the landscape and in bodies rather than faces. For a debut, the subtlety is incredible. Brief suggestions and striking lines capture our attention and urge us to think about their implications. Part of it is sheer guesswork, but some of it pays off. If anything, it makes the film a more engaging experience. Cividino's film is autobiographical in more ways than one. First of all, the setting is gathered straight from Cividino's childhood. But more importantly, the film reflects how he experienced those lonely shores, how he coped with boredom, and how poisonous his options were. As Adam descends further into juvenile savagery, he begins to develop strange -- but admittedly relatable -- little habits. He becomes fascinated with a fishmonger that his father is having an affair with, going so far as to place a telescope outside her house and watch her undress. He lies to his parents, Taylor, and finally to his friends.The final confrontation refers back to ancient Greek tragedies. The threads of fate are tied by this point, we know what's going to happen, and when it does, we realize that it didn't even need to, which makes it all the more heartbreaking. The only thing the film lacks is a real ending. Sure, it ends, but it seems to come out of nowhere. Something momentous has happened, at least in my mind, but the ending doesn't seem to do the harsh beauty of the film justice, freeze-framing the story in a way that's very, very unsatisfying. This is a problem, but still only a minor blunder that I'll admit is subject to taste.As they say, boys will be boys. And guess what? They're right.