''Mountains'' is a 2023 American

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film, directed by Monica Sorelle in her directorial debut, from a screenplay by Sorelle and Robert Colom. It stars Atibon Nazaire, Sheila Anozier, and Chris Renois. ''Mountains'' had its world premiere at

Tribeca Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

on June 9, 2023, and was released on August 16, 2024, by

Music Box Films Music Box Films is a distributor of foreign and independent film in theatrical, DVD/Blu-ray, and video-on-demand markets in the United States. Based in Chicago, Music Box Films is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corpo ...

. The film was nominated for two

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

, including Best Breakthrough Performance for Nazaire, and Someone to Watch for Sorelle, which she won.

Premise

Xavier is a Haitian demolition worker living in Little Haiti, Miami with his wife, Esperance, and college dropout son, Junior. While pursuing a new house for the family, he is faced with the realities of redevelopment as he is tasked with dismantling his rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.

Cast

* Atibon Nazaire as Xavier * Sheila Anozier as Esperance * Chris Renois as Junior * Kerline Alce as Magaly * Karina Bonnefil as Angeline * Yaniel Castillo as Chino * Serafin Falcon as Jorge * Farley Louis as Farrell * Macc Plaise as Jimmy * Bechir Sylvain as Dominique * Roscoè B. Thické III as Daniel

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on June 9, 2023, where it received a Special Jury Mention for US Narrative Feature. It went onto screen at the BlackStar Film Festival on August 6, 2023,

2023 Toronto International Film Festival The 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 7 to 17, 2023.Victoria Ahearn"TIFF reveals new programmers and other 2023 festival details" '' Playback'', April 20, 2023. The most noted change from past years was tha ...

on September 8, 2023, and

AFI Fest The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

on October 27, 2023. In June 2024,

acquired US distribution rights to the film, and set it for an August 16, 2024 release at Coral Gables Art Cinema, with an August 23, 2024 expansion.

Reception

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". In his Critic's Pick review for Indiewire, Christian Blauvelt gave ''Mountains'' an “A” and hailed it as one of 2024’s “best debut features.”

Angelica Jade Bastién Angelica Jade Bastién is an American essayist and critic. She is a staff writer for ''Vulture'', where she has reviewed film and written television recaps since 2015. Bastién also frequently discusses horror and depictions of women and madne ...

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

called ''Mountains'' “a quietly magnificent debut,” and described it as “a vibrant story of gentrification and generational divides in Miami’s Little Haiti, brought to life by tremendous performances.” John Fink of The Film Stage observed that the film “frames the disappearance of Miami’s Little Haiti with a warm, compassionate gaze recalling the masters of social realism – akin to

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such a ...

with the touch of

Ousmane Sembène Ousmane Sembène (; 1 January 1923 or 8 January 1923 – 9 June 2007), was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The ''Los Angeles Times'' considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and he has often been called the "father o ...

’s lighter films.” Erick Massoto of Collider described ''Mountains'' as "a powerful character study and a great debut for Monica Sorelle that marks her as one to watch." IndieWire included ''Mountains'' on its list of "The 17 Best First Feature Films of 2024.”

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title 2020s English-language films 2020s Spanish-language films 2023 directorial debut films 2023 films 2023 independent films 2023 multilingual films American drama films American independent films American multilingual films English-language Haitian films Films about social realism Films set in Miami Films shot in Miami Haitian Creole-language films Haitian drama films Spanish-language American films