Parents' Guide to The Giant Falls

Familiar almost to a fault, this Argentine film is still a moving drama with a few lovely surprises. The Giant Falls doesn't do much that feels new, but it wisely gets the reunion between Boris and Julián out of the way almost immediately, which lets the film focus on something richer: how Boris slowly rebuilds his understanding of both parents at once. Some of its best moments come from the quiet symmetry of that, especially when each parent reveals something about the other that Boris never knew. There's something very touching about the idea that even the people closest to us still contain whole lives we've not fully seen.

The performances do a lot of the heavy lifting. Matías Mayer is solid as Boris, but the film really belongs to Oscar Martínez and especially Inés Estévez, who makes Leticia feel warm, lived in, and surprising. The movie loses some of its footing in the final act, when it starts pushing too hard toward a more conventional emotional payoff, but the humor and tenderness are woven together beautifully enough to carry it through. This feels very much like a movie for adults, especially those drawn to stories about family, regret, and second chances.