Adolescents face enormous pressure to make life-defining decisions every day and they want to lock in their identities sooner rather than later. All of this pressure is exacerbated by physical and social changes.
Franky (Josh Wiggins), the hero of Keith Behrman’s exquisite and generous Giant Little Ones, is under more pressure than most. His life was altered when his father (Kyle MacLachlan, Mao’s Last Dancer) left his mother (Maria Bello, The Jane Austen Book Club) for a man. Franky is left embarrassed, confused, and feeling like he has to decide his sexuality right away to avoid the disruption he blames his father for.
Determined to hide his uncertainty from his best friend and his girlfriend, Franky does not realize he is not the only one who does not know where he stands. When a wild party ends up in a way none of them could or would have dreamed Franky and his friends are forced to decide what kind of people they want to be.
Giant Little Ones is a sensitive and touching look at that point in adolescence when freedom is both intoxicating and terrifying—and feelings are both elegiac and erotic. It is driven by extraordinary young talents as well as great work by veterans MacLachlan, Bello and Peter Outerbridge and the subtle, evocative directorial touch of Behrman, whose Flower & Garnet won the 2002 Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature.
“Writer/director Keith Behrman knows exactly what he’s doing when introducing a variety of people along the sexuality spectrum in his latest film Giant Little Ones. He’s intentionally flooding his canvas so that we have no choice but to accept them all rather than turn our focus onto just one.” (Jared Mobarak, The Film Stage)
“The film belongs to Wiggins, who brings an openness and sincerity to Franky’s struggles that help suggest to what extent his character’s specific story has elements that everybody will be able to relate to.” (Boyd van Hoeij, The Hollywood Reporter)
“Sensitive performances, mature and self-assured direction, and understated writing make Keith Behrman’s Giant Little Ones an emotionally involving, above-average coming-of-age story with a profound impact and mercifully few clichés.” (Rex Reed, Observer)