Selected press quotes with links to full articles
“SXSW 2019: The 10 Best Film and TV Projects at the Festival”
“ This wise, understated, and exquisite acting showcase is one of the most enticing entries in the SXSW narrative competition, precisely because its emotional power has been designed to sneak up on you.” —Eric Kohn
“Ingmar Bergman-esque” — Ben Kenigsberg
June 13, 2019 NYC Weekend Film Series
“A snapshot of major and minor upheavals, and the rocky means by which people move forward from them, it’s a showcase for Balsam’s superb lead turn…” —Nick Schager
https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/sxsw-2019-global-highlights-and-familiar-faces
“…my fiercest discovery amongst the outliers is perhaps the least ostentatious of the bunch, Hilary Brougher’s graceful portrait of a matriarch in transitional crisis, South Mountain… “ –Beatrice Loayaza
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/south-mountain-review-1193587
“Painful potent scenes from a troubled marriage… “
“Balsam makes Lila a thoroughly fascinating character — frustrated, angry, sensual, always caring. Cohen does an excellent job conveying the duplicity as well as the attractiveness of the philandering husband…” – Stephen Farber
“9 Under The Radar Movies You Won’t Want To Miss This Year”
“Easily one of the best films I’ve seen this year…South Mountain is a bit like a coming-of-age film for middle age, and each scene feels vibrantly alive; director and writer Hilary Brougher has crafted a world in which nothing is cleanly resolved but a future is still possible.” — Alissa Wilkinson
Peak Performances Drive Hilary Brougher’s Volcanic “South Mountain”
The writer/director of “Stephanie Daley” roars back with this cascading drama about a woman trying to salvage the world she’s worked so hard to build up around her.
“Although Lila is well past worrying about the future because of all its unknowns, a considerable part of the intriguing conflict of “South Mountain” comes from what she knows all too well, negotiating what personal pain and embarrassment she’s willing to accept in order to keep her routine intact as the people around her begin to let her down. While Lila staves off a feeling of defeat, Balsam takes an ownership of the character in a way that’s electrifying tobehold.” — Stephen Saito
Rating: 4 out of 4
“Brougher’s film is simple and personal, yet complicated and elegant in all the best ways — somewhat like love.”
“And as every character combats the new headwinds that have entered their lives because of, well, life, they each discover a way to cope. Because life is coping, coping to the next day. Like seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness, if one waits, a better day may yet come. And in Brougher’s beautiful and quiet South Mountain, we descend believing that better days are just over the next ridge.” —By Robert Daniels
FLIXIST
“(Talia) Balsam… portrays Lila with a buried anger that never erupts but is constantly there. Her attempts to salvage her marriage, her anger, her slips; everything is filtered through the perfectly restrained lens of a stunning performance.” – Matthew Razak
4
https://quellemovies.com/2019/03/south-mountain/
“…Brougher’s South Mountain is a beautiful, quiet film about a couple’s break-up and its repercussions. “ – Rachel Stetcher
A Family Affair: Brougher Does Some Marital Maneuvering in Piercing and Personal Drama
“Featuring a robust Talia Balsam, this family affair (Brougher enlists actual household members), offers sharp dialogue, and a strong sense of place which makes South Mountain a mature and memorable essay on marital endpoints and endgame.” — Matt Delman
Hammer to Nail, January 2020.
“With quiet resolve, Brougher brings the story to its uneasy conclusion, completing the narrative without solving all its conundrums. Life is complicated, and deserves complex cinema such as this”. — Christopher Llewellyn Reed
https://www.hammertonail.com/reviews/south-mountain/
www.otroscines.com, Decemeber 2019
A review on www.otroscines.com from Mar Del Plata, Argentina!
https://www.womaninrevolt.com/south-mountain-by-hilary-brougher/
14.Jul.2019 Written by Lindsay Pugh