Borderline, a film version of the novels Borderline and La Brèche, tells the story of Kiki at various stages of her life. With her mother institutionalized, she is raised by her grandmother, where left to her own devices, she takes refuge in school. Her life before 30 is a far cry from fairy-tale. Sex and alcohol are her only outlets and her daily reality. She goes through men one after another.
Acting
Isabelle Blais makes self-destruction feel like a logic puzzle.
Direction
Charlebois never judges Kiki, which somehow hurts more.
Writing
Adapting two novels without losing the ugly specificity.
Director
Lyne Charlebois
Isabelle Blais
Kiki
Angèle Coutu
Mémé
Sylvie Drapeau
Kiki's Mother
Pierre-Luc Brillant
Mikael Robin
Marie-Chantal Perron
Caroline
Antoine Bertrand
Eric
Jean-Hugues Anglade
Tcheky
Hubert Proulx
Antoine
Anjo B. Arson
Marie
Hortense Bamas
Élève Céline
Sébastien Beaulac
Amant
Marc Beaupré
Père de Kiki
Sandrine Bisson
Fille DASA #2
Valérie Blais
Isabelle
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Adapted from Marie-Sissi Labrèche's autobiographical novels, this helped kickstart a wave of raw Quebecois female-led cinema in the late 2000s.
The school scenes—Kiki's refuge—were filmed in Labrèche's actual former institution, blurring memoir and fiction deliberately.
CA
