Holy Cow: A delightfully uplifting , scrappy comedy
The pursuit of prize-winning cheese is the unlikely goal for an orphaned boy in this unusual but fulfilling comedy-drama. Holy Cow stars Clément Faveau as Totone, an 18-year-old boy living in rural France whose life of drinking and partying comes to a halt when his father dies in a drink-driving accident. Alone and left to raise his younger sister Claire (Luna Garret), he hatches a plan: take over his father’s cheese dairy and win the 30,000 EUR prize at a cheese fair.
Under another filmmaker’s guidance, the story might have been a bleak tale of agricultural suffering, where the legacy of rural life can be children clearing up their parents’ mess. However, first time director Louise Courvoisier finds the joy in their situation, putting together a tale of people finding a way to make things work.
Totone’s dream may seem foolish, but he moves ahead with the practicality of someone who has no other plan. There’s no cavalry on the horizon, no eleventh hour miracle, the pragmatism of their situation comes in the fact that he simply has to get on with a life he is completely unprepared for. Given this starting point, even his most hair-brained schemes are understandable, and worthy of empathy.
Equally endearing are his co-conspirators, his best friends who muddle their way through helping out. As you watch the trio, plus Tatone’s little sister, all huddled around a laptop intently watching cheesemaking tutorials, there’s something about the grubby innocence of it all that makes you desperate for them to get away with it. Even Tatone’s romance with tomboy farmer Marie-Lise (Maiwene Barthelemy) is charming, even though its basis in deceit makes it doomed from the start.
A quirky celebration of the underdog, Holy Cow proves that having realism in storytelling doesn’t mean you have to be gloomy. An uplifting, scrappy comedy that should delight independent cinema fans.