NOW ON TUBI! Prepare for a deep hit of mystery with the superb Swiss production My Little One, co-directed by Frédéric Choffat and Julie Gilbert, who both wrote the script with Jihane Chouaib. Alex (Vincent Bonillo) and Bernardo (Mathieu Demy) meet at a desolate desert bus stop in the Navajo Nation. While they converse in French, a truck comes out of nowhere and stops to pick them up. It is being driven by the foul-mouthed 10-year-old Frida (Ruby Matenko). Yeah, I thought this was a nifty way to start as well. The little girl drives the men to a lone trailer sitting in the middle of the desert where she lives with her mother, Jade (Anna Mouglalis).
One of Jade’s records from when she was a recording star sits in the trailer. It is Jade who has summoned both men from Switzerland, as they have a long history with her but haven’t seen her in a decade. Frida says she is half-Sioux but doesn’t have much info on her father. After checking behind a closed bedroom door, Frida announces her mother is sleeping, and both Alex and Bernardo will have to cool it until she awakens.
“…Frida announces her mother is sleeping, and both Alex and Bernardo will have to cool…”
The next morning Frida calls medicine man Ryan (Zoel Zohnnie) to go into the bedroom. Ryan informs the two Swiss men that Jade is not well and needs medicine from a place in town. Once medicated, Jade rises but remains elusive as to how she ended up in the Navajo Nation and why she called the two from Geneva. They all go to the reservation casino, where the pit boss, Matt (John Doe), brags how Jade packs them in when she sings there. All the while, the two men bicker over what could have been had they stayed with Jade all those years ago while trying to figure out what she would like them to do with Frida once the inevitable happens.
The mystery is the prime captivator in My Little One. There’s not just the mystery of why Jade called these men from Switzerland to the Navajo Nation. The audience is also in the dark regarding Jade’s history with Alex and Bernardo and what kind of relationships they all shared. So instead of a whodunit, the viewer is confronted with a whydunit, trying to figure out what motivations are at play.
"…hits some profound plateaus."
