The Giants

2011, Drama, 1h 24m

20 Reviews 250+ Ratings

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The Giants Photos

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Movie Info

Seth and Zak spend a summer in the house of their dead grandfather and wait for their mother to return with money. The brothers decide to rent the house to a drug dealer to make some cash, but things do not go as planned.

Genre:

drama
Original Language:

French (France)
Director:

Bouli Lanners
Producer:

Jacques-Henri Bronckart, Carole Scotta, Jani Thiltges
Writer:

Elise Ancion, Bouli Lanners
Release Date (Streaming):

May 12, 2018
Runtime:

1h 24m

Cast & Crew

Paul Bartel
Danny

Zacharie Chasseriaud
Zak

Marthe Keller
Rosa

Martin Nissen
Seth

Karim Leklou
Angel

Bouli Lanners
Director

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for The Giants

All Critics (20) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (3)

This is a film that stays with you, resonating deeper than many a more cut-and-dried rites-of-passage tale.

July 31, 2018 | Full Review…

Trevor Johnston
Sight & Sound
[A] Belgian coming-of-age drama that's just as hazily open-ended as childhood summers tend to be.

July 13, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Robbie Collin
Daily Telegraph (UK)
Even the tale's sagging, aimless middle section feels oddly of a piece.

July 12, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Xan Brooks
Guardian
The Giants, a lovely, sportive, bucolic film, turns Belgium into an annexe of Huck Finn country.

July 12, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
Wistful, beautiful-looking but as transient as that land of lost content.

July 12, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Paul Fairclough
Little White Lies
Bouli Lanners paints his story a little hazily, perhaps, but his gorgeously unselfconscious actors are faultless.

July 10, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Cath Clarke
Time Out
The film feels a bit too meandering and a bit too familiar to remain substantial enough for its eventual comparison to other, similar films.

November 13, 2020 | Full Review…

Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
Not without its charms, former painter-turned-director Bouli Lanners' drama is hampered by a somewhat plodding narrative [and] some stunted performances.

January 30, 2019 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Daniel Green
CineVue
Boring, stale, and slow-going even though the run time doesn't even reach 90 minutes.

August 14, 2018 | Rating: 1.5/5 | Full Review…

Mae Abdulbaki
Punch Drunk Critics
It is for discerning movie palates, prepared to go with the flow of the leisurely pace that contrasts with the intensity

October 28, 2012 | Full Review…

Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
The tranquil beauty of rural Belgium and three outstanding juvenile performances are the highlights of this moody and haunting film that offers an unsettling glimpse of the pain of adolescence

October 28, 2012 | Full Review…

Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile
A tremendously-promising French-language Belgian film about growing up the hard way.

July 25, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Graham Young
Birmingham Post

This is a film that stays with you, resonating deeper than many a more cut-and-dried rites-of-passage tale.

July 31, 2018 | Full Review…

Trevor Johnston
Sight & Sound
[A] Belgian coming-of-age drama that's just as hazily open-ended as childhood summers tend to be.

July 13, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Robbie Collin
Daily Telegraph (UK)
Even the tale's sagging, aimless middle section feels oddly of a piece.

July 12, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Xan Brooks
Guardian
The Giants, a lovely, sportive, bucolic film, turns Belgium into an annexe of Huck Finn country.

July 12, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
The film feels a bit too meandering and a bit too familiar to remain substantial enough for its eventual comparison to other, similar films.

November 13, 2020 | Full Review…

Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
Not without its charms, former painter-turned-director Bouli Lanners' drama is hampered by a somewhat plodding narrative [and] some stunted performances.

January 30, 2019 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Daniel Green
CineVue
Boring, stale, and slow-going even though the run time doesn't even reach 90 minutes.

August 14, 2018 | Rating: 1.5/5 | Full Review…

Mae Abdulbaki
Punch Drunk Critics
It is for discerning movie palates, prepared to go with the flow of the leisurely pace that contrasts with the intensity

October 28, 2012 | Full Review…

Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
The tranquil beauty of rural Belgium and three outstanding juvenile performances are the highlights of this moody and haunting film that offers an unsettling glimpse of the pain of adolescence

October 28, 2012 | Full Review…

Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile
A tremendously-promising French-language Belgian film about growing up the hard way.

July 25, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Graham Young
Birmingham Post
If you watch The Giants with no strong sense of urgency it's quite a beguiling portrait of resilient kidulthood.

July 15, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Siobhan Synnot
Scotsman
Superbly directed and beautifully shot, this is an emotionally engaging and powerfully evocative coming-of-age story with a trio of terrific performances from its three young stars.

July 11, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

View All Critic Reviews (20)

Audience Reviews for The Giants

Mar 01, 2016

Reminiscent of Stand By Me and Mean Creek, only without the golden nostalgia of the former and the bite of the latter, The Giants is beautifully shot and engrossing enough while it lasts.

Daniel P Super Reviewer
Sep 20, 2013

Huckleberry Fin set in the Ardennes. The fantastic sound track by 'The Bony King of Nowhere' is what lifts this film up. It scored two prizes in the Quainzaine des Réalisateurs section in Cannes

William H Super Reviewer