Holy Cow
2024 · Directed by Louise Courvoisier
Original language: French
- drama
- comedy
The story
In the western part of the French Alps: After the drunk driving death of his father, 18-year-old Totone must look after his younger sister. He pursues a €30k Comté cheese award he has no hope of winning. Good thing Marie-Lise takes a liking for him!
What it’s like
Set in the western French Alps, this is a warm, mischievous comedy-drama with a rural, dairy-farm texture: cheese, cows, and the practical business of making something by hand. Its mood is cheerful with a sentimental undertow, the kind of gentle, scrappy story that suits a lazy weekend afternoon, a comfort rewatch, or an easy evening with friends. Its pace is brisk and comic, with a running current of tenderness. The central relationship is a young brother and sister, with a coming-of-age arc as the older sibling takes on responsibility after a family loss. Stock car racing, a theft subplot, and a delivery-room scene involving a difficult birth add broader, sillier set pieces. The film keeps its intensity low: the father's death lies in the background, and any danger is mostly comic. Nudity appears, and the tone is candid about bodies. There is no meaningful gore or cruelty. It suits viewers who want a scrappy, funny, big-hearted story about family, rural ambition, and an underdog chasing an unlikely prize, with a touch of cheese-themed whimsy.
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