‘Mountains’ Review: Razing Houses, Building a Future

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‘Mountains’ Review: Razing Houses, Building a Future

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the feature debut from Monica Sorelle, opens by observing the demolition of a house. In one sense, Sorelle is simply setting the scene. Xavier (Atibon Nazaire), the father in the central family in the film, has a job razing buildings, a role he fulfills without much complaint (although at a crucial moment he sticks up for a co-worker).

Xavier is not overtly bothered by how his work might contribute to gentrification. “They give me an address, I come to demolish it,” he says, when confronted with the fact that he is slated to clear a 50-year-old *******. But the tension at the movie’s heart involves the difficulty of leaving homes and finding new ones, as experienced by immigrants and their children in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.

Xavier, who worked as a cabdriver after arriving from Haiti, can’t stop looking to advance; he has his eye on a house he and his wife, Esperance (Sheila Anozier), a school crossing guard who moonlights as a dressmaker, may not be able to afford. Their son, Junior (Chris Renois), is a college dropout who still lives with them. He wants to make it as a standup comedian and weighs how much of his upbringing to incorporate in his routine. To Xavier, Junior isn’t living up to his potential.

As a drama, “Mountains,” whose characters move fluidly between English and Haitian Creole, is too low-key to leave much of an impression. But as a portrait of intergenerational tensions in an immigrant family, it is poignant, and it captures an area of Miami that is rarely seen onscreen.

Mountains
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. In theaters.

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