In Quebec in the late 1960s, a dreamy young boy is confronted with the violence of his alcoholic father but manages to get through the crises with a magical ritual: counting the flowers on the floor of his bedroom... Les Fleurs magiques is the first short film in a trilogy —followed by Les Mots magiques and Les Temps magiques (unfinished)— directed by Quebecois Jean-Marc Vallée about alcoholism and father-son relationships. The filmmaker delivers a tender story from the child's point of view, brilliantly interpreted by young Quebec actor Marc-André Grondin, who would go on to play Zac in C.R.A.Z.Y. ten years later. Vallée sensitively captures the complex situation of a family weakened by alcoholism, drawing us into a world where dreams enable survival in the face of reality.

Clémentine Mascotto