Lennert Madou’s undergraduate film is a twelve-minute summer daydream, yet its premise is anything but a dream scenario: Otto and Casimir feel stuck in a long-distance relationship. Casimir is a professional dancer who lives thousands of miles away. They try to avoid the rut with daily video recordings. 

Those familiar with Madou’s photography work will recognise his signature style: models with blurred outlines and an enhanced sense of volume and movement are key. Warm colours blend in synesthesia, making everything feel light, as if the spectator is floating from one image to the next. Otto is also appropriately dressed in this regard: his sweater is as woolly as the “I love you”s he sends Casimir. 

Madou avoids overdramatisation. His aesthetic choices do not emphasise but neither downplay the narrative. The boys’ feelings are expressed realistically through conversations and choreography. High Jump is fuelled by a dreamy soundtrack and performances but remains level-headed throughout. 

Felix Braeckman, who plays Otto, receives ample screen time and really embodies his role. His white hair colour is striking—the Flemish film Whitey (De Witte van Sichem) spontaneously comes to mind. Although surely Braeckman won’t have dyed his hair for the sake of the role, as indeed occurred on the set of Robbe De Hert in 1980. What is it with blond-haired boys that they seem to hold an endless fascination? In any case, we hope to see this specific Goldilocks return to the big screen sooner rather than later, preferably starring in a film that, much like High Jump, keeps its feet on the ground and takes us to higher places.