Set Me Free (1999 film)

Set Me Free (French: Emporte-moi) is a 1999 Canadian coming-of-age drama film by Léa Pool and starring Karine Vanasse.

In 1963, 13-year old girl Hanna is living on a farm in rural Quebec with her grandparents and uncle (who apparently has a developmental disability such as Down Syndrome) when she gets her first period.

Hanna is welcomed back by her brother, Paul, to the small family apartment, where the rent is often overdue, sometimes paid with cash raised from pawning household items.

Hanna's mother is depressive, working overtime in a sewing factory to make ends meet but also spending hours at home typing her husband's poems.

While wrestling with her changing body and emotions, Hanna sneaks into a movie theater showing Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live) and is entranced by Nana, the character played by Anna Karina, and her philosophy of personal responsibility.

On her first day at a new school, Hanna sets herself apart from other students by admitting that her parents are not married and that she does not consider herself either Jewish, after her father, or Catholic, after her mother.

Hanna adopts poses and clothing choices from Karina in Godard's film, while continuing to explore her feelings and sexuality.

Wandering into the city's red-light district, she befriends a lost dog but also adopts the pose and attitudes of a prostitute like Karina's character.

[3] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".