Treading Water

Treading Water is a charming and romantic modern-day coming of age love story told through the eyes of a sensitive boy who is forced to face life with a rare condition that leaves him smelling like a fish. With his strange ailment, our young hero Mica (Douglas Smith) sadly grows to accept that he may never find happiness until, as a young boy, he meets Laura (Zoe Kravitz) who seems to not notice Mica's unique odor and wants to be his friend. Raised by his eccentric mother Sophie (Ariadna Gil) and his unstable father Richard (Don McKellar) who eventually abandons the family, Mica grows up in a house that's an over-the-top gaudy museum celebrating the renowned Mexican crooner Guillermo Garibai (Gonzalo Vega). Even as Mica's therapist Catherine (Carrie-Anne Moss) gently guides him through his daily troubles it becomes more and more obvious that only his childhood crush Laura can actually cure what ails him. With heroes, heroines, friends and foes, this heartwarming fish-out-of-water tale takes us on the emotional rollercoaster ride of a young life filled with everything from loneliness to falling in love to legendary crooners and a lavish Busby Berkeley-like synchronized swimming fantasy finale.

• comedy
• drama
• independent
• romance