Manou the Swift review – A tale of self-discovery

Manou grows up believing he is a seagull like his parents. He strives to swim, fish and fly like them, but seems to be not very gifted.

To his great shock he finds out he was adopted and is the offspring of the much-hated swifts.

His family stands by him, claiming he is like them, especially his seagull brother Luc who admires him.

One night Manou fails to guard the eggs and surrenders one to the rats. The seagulls are outraged and he is expelled from home.

Manou the Swift. Picture: Luxx Film

Utterly disappointed he retreats and stumbles across Parzival, a funny guinea fowl who cannot fly but turns out to be a deep-rooted pal.

He checks out the “swift way” with his new buddies Yusuf and Poncho when he bumps into Kalifa, a stunning lady swift.

Suddenly he is entangled in a flirtation on top of all his other troubles. The stakes are high as rats hijack swift eggs and a big storm threatens the seagulls.

Manou is committed to saving them both, being courageous like a seagull and inventive like a swift.

Manou the Swift. Picture: Luxx Film

Manou the Swift is a modern fable about how strangers live together in a privileged society.

How do we receive strangers and people who are different from ourselves in our society? Prejudices support the gulf between poor and rich, between locals and strangers.

But is strangeness really irreconcilable? Or are we, concerning good and bad qualities, more similar to each other than we expect to be?

This story explores this conflict within the circle of a family which has to master its own private turbulence on top of friendship, first love, loyalty and growing up.

Manou the Swift. Picture: Luxx Film

Only when the protagonists, who are very different, get to know each other can they live together in peace.

Info

Rating: ★★★★☆
Cast: Kate Winslet (Blanche), Willem Dafoa (Yves), Josh Keaton (Manou), Cassandra Steen (Kalifa), Mike Kelly (Luc), Arif Knichen (Yusuf), Nolan North (Poncho), David Shaughnessy (Parzival)
Classification: PGV

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