Panache

Ever since his mother passed away when he was very young, fifteen-year-old Alex has lived with his father and aunt in a village on the Côte-Nord. His quiet little life, revolving mostly around hockey training and trout fishing, is turned upside down the evening an ATV accident leads him to the home of Robert Pinchault, a heavy drinker who lives with his son in very precarious conditions. That day, for the first time, Alex meets Jessie, who has come to stay temporarily with her father and brother while her mother recovers her health at a detox centre. The teenager is instantly smitten with this young woman, who from then on occupies all his thoughts. To get closer to her, Alex makes an effort to overcome his distaste and befriends her brother, Stéphane, a passionate insect enthusiast with deeply unsettling behaviour. Before long, the young man discovers that his beloved's daily life is far from rosy, and that he will have to pull away from it if he doesn't want to permanently jeopardize his future as a professional hockey player... Machinery, hockey, hunting, ATVs, "smoke shows" and other ingredients known to appeal to a male audience are brought together here in a slow-paced plot, narrated in a colloquial register that includes many anglicisms.