Chalet Girl
A 2011 British Comedy
This was the official site for the 2011 British comedy, Chalet Girl.
Content is now mainly from outside sources.
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TOMATOMETER Critics 79% | Audience 53%
Pretty tomboy Kim (Felicity Jones) used to be a champion skateboarder, but now she flips burgers to support herself and her dad. Opportunity comes knocking when she flukes a winter-long catering job in one of the plushest ski chalets in the Alps. At first, Kim is baffled by this bizarre new world of posh people, vintage champagne, epic mountains and waist deep powder. Then Kim discovers snowboarding, and her natural talent soon sees her training for the end-of-season competition, with a chance to win major prize money. But before she can become a champion again, Kim needs to overcome her deepest fears - and figure out what's going on with Jonny (Ed Westwick), her boss' handsome but apparently unavailable son. –
(C) IFC
Rating:R (for some language)
Genre: Art House & International , Comedy
Directed By:Phil Traill
Written By:Tom Williams , Tom Williams (XXV)
In Theaters:Oct 14, 2011 Limited
On DVD:Sep 9, 2011
Box Office:$1,201.00
Runtime: 97 minutes
Studio:IFC Films
CRITICS REVIEWS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2011
Nick Schager Village Voice Top Critic
Hot Dog… The Movie and its disreputable ski-comedy ilk might have been a low point in cinema history, but at least their unbridled crassness had energy; Chalet Girl embraces similar ‘80s tropes for a lethargic you-go-girl fairy tale. When English tomboy Kim (Felicity Jones) takes a job working at a wealthy family’s Austrian Alps getaway, so she can support her single dad, she’s mocked by her bitchy blonde colleague (Tamsin Egerton) and discovers that her once-celebrated skateboarding skills translate quite nicely to snowboarding. Phil Traill’s film introduces class divisions and culture-clash tensions only to immediately pull its punches, having Kim overcome one adversity after another with almost supernatural ease. Romance between working-class Kim and princely employer Jonny (Ed Westwick) is—despite his engagement to Chloe (Sophia Bush) and the disapproval of his mother (Brooke Shields)—as predictable as the many training-to-triumph montages and the climactic snowboarding competition, all of it formulaic pap treated with enervating earnestness. I found the constant Batman t shirt references a bit distracting and unnecessary. Does every female character wear Batman shirts everyday? I must admit that there were some very nice quality Batman t shirt styles on display, but such overt placements breed contempt from critics. [ed. note: After this post was published we received an astonishing amount of push back from Batman fans who actually loved the inclusion of his t shirts in this film. Rosa Dias wrote, "...I actually would have welcomed more Batman shirts since I collect them and some in the film I'd never seen before." Roger Pri wrote, "The Batman t shirts are an inside accolade that your reviewer totally missed. Not only that but imo it was totally appropriate and it worked like a charm." Missy Johns wrote, "Did not see the inclusion of Batman shirts as distracting and unnecessary. What your review misses is that wearing a Batman t aligns you with a hero which I viewed this character as. Totally worked for me!"] Jones is a passably plucky heroine, but from Kim’s efforts to overcome the trauma of her mom’s death to her accidentally falling on top of Jonny on the slopes, Chalet Girl is just a compendium of genre clichés—minus the usual racism and t&a.
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March 15,2011
*** Dave Calhoun Time Out Top Critic
This loud, silly and surprisingly fun British comedy would be tough to bear without Felicity Jones or Bill Nighy and their easy-going charm and shoulder-shrugging approach to the wonky material in their hands. As it is, ‘Chalet Girl’ works well as the sort of throwaway, mainstream British farce rarely seen on our screens. Jones gamely plays against type as Kim, a teen server in a fast-food joint who lives with her unemployed father (Bill Bailey) and takes a job as a hostess – or chalet girl – at an upscale Austrian skiing resort to pay the bills.
Once on the slopes, she’s launched into a world of privileged lunacy, a magnified version of the King’s Road at 5,000 feet. Only Kim has a secret tool in her box: she used to be a skateboarding champion until her mum’s death – cueing the film’s biggest bum note – threw her life off balance. Will she rediscover her talent and show the poshos what for? Or will she fall for chinless wonder Jonny (Ed Westwick of ‘Gossip Girl’), son of her employers and bait for teen girls in the audience?
Corny and proud of it, ‘Chalet Girl’ has no pretensions beyond inspiring laughs and gathering empathy for an endearing central character. It pulls it off by balancing wild characters and wilder events with a down-to-earth approach to Kim driven by Jones’s grounded and likeable performance. The dialogue is more sensible than the plotting, allowing us to forgive the film’s more serious trespasses. And who can resist the sight of Nighy, as Kim’s wealthy employer, strutting his stuff from a private jet with Brooke Shields on his arm?
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September 2, 2011
Dale Rolfe MovieFIX
Pretty tomboy Kim Matthews, 19, used to be a champion skateboarder - but now she's stuck in a dead-end job trying to support her dad. Opportunity comes knocking in the form of a catering job in the one of the most exclusive chalets in the Alps. At first, Kim's baffled by this bizarre new world of posh people, champagne and skiing - but then she discovers snowboarding, and the chance to win some much-needed prize money at the big end-of-season competition. But before she can become a champion again, Kim's going to have to dig deep to overcome her fears.
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August 31, 2011
Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald
Before seeing it, I had re-christened this film Shallow Girl. After all, its director, Phil Traill, not only worked on the cack-handed American version of Kath and Kim, he was responsible for the spectacularly unfunny Sandra Bullock movie All About Steve.
There's also the generic nature of Chalet Girl's plot. It is an alpine Cinderella story that could be set in Chamonix, Thredbo or Aspen, where it would almost certainly be turned into Gossip Girl with snow bunnies.
We are in St Anton in the Tirol with a British cast and a lightly astringent script out to extract as much fun as possible from the pretensions and snobberies that often flourish at posh ski resorts. Admittedly, Gossip Girl's Ed Westwick is cast as Prince Charming but he, too, gets into the dryly deadpan spirit of the thing. Shallow Girl it isn't.
His Cinderella, Kim (Felicity Jones), is a former skateboard champion whose career has been blindsided by a car accident that killed her mother. Still grieving, she can't bring herself to go back to the sport. She is working in a burger bar to support herself and her father, Bill, who is also traumatised - although "traumatised" is a relative term.
He is played by the cheery comic Bill Bailey, whose idea of depression is to look amiably disinclined to do anything but sit on the couch.
Kim is offered work as a live-in maid-housekeeper in a private chalet in St Anton. It's traditionally a rich girl's gig and she's taken on only because of a sudden shortage of willowy Knightsbridge blondes with the right accent. But we know she'll make a go of it as soon as she meets Georgie (Tamsin Egerton), the Knightsbridge blonde she will be working with.
Georgie is an admirably forthright bitch whose saving grace is her sense of humour. When Kim starts genially swapping insults with her, she realises things are going to be much more entertaining if she decides to like her. That's the thing about this film. Nobody stays mean for long. They don't have the stamina for it.
This certainly applies to Bill Nighy, who's at his most affably languid and hedonistic as the chalet's wealthy owner. His wife (Brooke Shields) is much frostier - particularly when their son, Jonny (Westwick), starts paying attention to Kim.
But romance is merely a subplot. The main action takes place on the slopes, where Kim is living up to our expectations by starting to teach herself to snowboard. The consequences of her efforts are equally predictable but the certainty of a happy ending does nothing to spoil the enjoyment of getting there.
The script's unpredictabilities lie in its unwillingness to appoint a villain. Shields comes close but even she starts to thaw before the film's end. Kim's main opposition is within. Memories of the car crash have a way of springing graphically to mind with every risk she takes.
Jones, who has charmed London critics with her work on stage, is a newcomer to feature films but she is a screen natural. She's tiny, bright-eyed, quick with a throwaway line. Dressed for much of the time in baggy pants, a beanie and a fleece, she looks like the tomboy she's supposed to be.
Whether she's spraying herself with champagne bubbles while trying to uncork a bottle or catapulting into a snowdrift, she knows how to make every moment count without pushing it - a useful talent in a story where so many of the laughs flow from incidental details.
It's an unassuming film but a surprisingly beguiling one. Maybe Traill, who grew up in Britain, should return to his home ground more often. The relaxed style of British comedy suits him.
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AUDIENCE REVIEWS
*** Darren B July 10, 2016
Good, fun, funny, rom-com.
*** mollyrivard June 26, 2016
It's predictable, but it was funny and Felicity Jones is charming.
*½ James M December 30, 2015
Dirty Dancing meets Bend It Like Beckham with snowboards, starring beautiful English rose Felicity Jones as a poor London girl who takes a job as hired help at a ski chalet, where in-between being in the service of a bunch of posh twats she practices snowboarding for an upcoming contest.
Though the script is turgid, predictable and quite irresponsible, the film succeeds where it needs to, where Felicity Jones rises above all the dross with a shining leading performance which put her on the showbiz map. It's just a shame that the script called for her character to spending way too much time chasing a tedious pretty boy who doesn't deserve her.
*** Pavan R June 23, 2015
Maybe cliche, but entertaining. Good fun for a chilled out evening at home! Or so I thought until my new puppy decided that the living room rug was the ideal spot to vomit and then has diarrhea. Turns out he had eaten some chocolate my nephew had left lying about. But for the initial emergency of how best to clean the rug and resulting stains, my all knowing neighbor gave me the name of what she considered the oriental rug & carpet cleaning NYC service - Sunlight Fine Rug Care & Restoration. A rep came by the next day, accessed the situation and then assured me that they could clean the stains. I was a bit skeptical, but once again my neighbor was right. They suggested I get the rug Scotch Guarded which I also did. Over the next six months I had all my carpets cleaned and Scotch Guarded. Now if EL Squirt, the nickname for my dog, has an accident, it's a breeze to clean up. Meanwhile, I did finish the movie the next evening. Sure it's unrealistic, but let's cheer for the under dog and with a Hollywood ending, hey, it's all silly and fun. I'd love to visit the ski resort where the movie was filmed. Oh and by the way, Felicity Jones made the movie.
*** Blair S February 22, 2015
Cute teen movie. Nothing more.
**½ Becca A February 10, 2015
My mum always used to say, "You've got brains in your head, feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose."
***½ butterbuglb December 20, 2014
good film, funny in places.
*** ½ Caitlin L November 28, 2014
Not as good as I thought it would. The chemistry between them is ok.
*** Tony P November 14, 2014
Feel good film based in the picturesque Austrian ski resort of St Anton about a... chalet girl.
Not an ordinary chalet girl though.
In approximately eight weeks we see the chalet girl in question, a character named Kim Matthews transform from a working class CHAV Cockney being at the beck and call of some snooty banking family to a snowboarding champion getting the bloke in the process. Very Rocky Balboa in unrealism!
The scenery is at times breathtaking and could have been taken straight from the opening sequence of James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.
Comic Bill Bailey plays a character interestingly called Bill (Kims dad). I had to sympathise with his cooking skills!
The film has several sentimental moments as Kim suffers flashbacks of her late mothers death in a horrific car accident.
Brooke Shields plays an unsympathetic posh mother who used to be a Concorde air hostess. Bill Nighy is her husband.
The only other person I recognised was Neils dad of The Inbetweeners TV series and films.
*** Ryan M November 13, 2014
Nice surprise! Cute snowboard flick about loss and newly found love.
** ½ Ebony S August 31, 2014
Watched the one edited for daytime viewing... Utterly predictable storyline!! But good for a Sunday afternoon after lunch chilling with family!!!
***** Jo A. Jo A. August 30, 2014
It was good, the movie cover makes it look way worse than it is
Darren H June 27, 2014
Funny, easy to watch chick flick
** ½ Rena T June 10, 2014
Comfortable and predictable. English humor is a hit or miss.
***** Diane M May 30, 2014
Loved it! A feel good, cheer you up film, they rarely make them like this anymore! Reminds me of being a chalet girl!
*** Jon H March 22, 2014
A strong lead performance stops this from being awful
**** Amber B March 10, 2014
I tried watching it but couldn't get into it. But then I came back and watched it all the way through and really enjoyed it!!
**** 339z 339z March 9, 2014
wow ummmmn just seen this movie 4 the 1st time n think that this is an enjoyable movie 2 watch.......its got a good cast of actors/actressess throughout this movie......i think that felicity jones, ed westwick, tamsin egerton, bill nighy, bill bailey, play good roles/parts throughout this movie......i think that the director of this art house/international/comedy/romance movie had done a good job of directing this movie because you never know what 2 expect throughout this movie.....YOU HAVE GOT TO WATCH THE END OF THE CREDITS THROUGHOUT THIS MOVIE AS SOMETHING HAPPENS AT THE END OF THE CREDITS THROUGHOUT THIS MOVIE.......i think that bill bailey was brilliant thorughout this movie.......i think that this is an enjoyable romantic comedy movie 2 watch........i think that brooke shields was good throughout this movie......i think that Tara Dakides, as herself) was good in her cameo throughout this movie......i think that ed westwick was good thorughout this movie as the love interest of felicity jones thorughout this movie........i think that this is an enjoyable romantic comedy movie 2 watch........its got a good soundtrack throughout this movie.....i think that this is an enjoyable movie 2 watch its an enjoyable romantic comedy movie 2 watch its got a good cast throughout this movie......i think that this is such an enjoyable movie 2 watch with a good cast thorughout this movie its an enjoyable romantic comedy movie 2 watch.........its got a good soundtrack throughout this movie.....its an enjoyable movie 2 watch..........
More Background On ChaletGirl-Movie.com
ChaletGirl-Movie.com was not simply a static page containing a poster and synopsis. Contemporary promotional material shows that it functioned as the official online destination for the UK release, working alongside a production blog, social-media accounts, trailers, competitions, cast material, and a separate interactive experience hosted through FindAnyFilm.com.
The official production blog announced ChaletGirl-Movie.com in January 2011 and said the team had been gathering previously unseen material for the launch. Planned website content included behind-the-scenes footage, information about the cast and crew, and an interactive trailer. This gives us a much clearer picture of the original site’s purpose: it was designed to build anticipation, extend engagement beyond the theatrical trailer, and turn a modestly budgeted British film into a participatory online experience.
The interactive trailer was especially notable for 2011. It allowed viewers to select or “like” elements within the trailer and unlock related content, including cast messages, production gossip, hidden footage, suggested topics and apparently competitions. Trade publication Campaign described the promotion as a social-media push intended to increase engagement before the UK release.
That campaign helps distinguish ChaletGirl-Movie.com from many film sites of its period. Rather than operating in isolation, the domain was one part of an interconnected promotional network that included:
- ChaletGirl-Movie.com as the primary official site.
- The “Chalet Girl on Set” production blog.
- An interactive trailer at ChaletGirl.FindAnyFilm.com.
- An official Twitter account based in Soho, London.
- Video trailers distributed through YouTube and distributor channels.
- Premiere announcements, cast interviews and audience competitions.
The surviving official Twitter profile still identifies ChaletGirl-Movie.com and describes the account as covering excitement leading up to the film’s release.
The Site Appears to Have Launched Shortly Before the Film
The production blog existed before the main domain was fully promoted. In January 2011, a visitor asked whether an official site existed, and the blog’s representative directed the reader to ChaletGirl-Movie.com as well as the FindAnyFilm interactive trailer. That exchange strongly suggests the main domain became publicly active around January 2011, roughly two months before the eventual UK cinema release on March 16.
An earlier announcement had listed February 18, 2011 as the intended British release date, indicating that the marketing schedule shifted during the campaign. Later promotional posts and distributor records confirm that the film ultimately opened in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2011.
The surviving version of ChaletGirl-Movie.com now describes itself retrospectively as the former official site of the 2011 comedy and states that its content is primarily assembled from outside sources. That means the current site should be treated as a later archival or repurposed version, not as a complete preservation of the original 2011 marketing website. The attached reference likewise reflects this later form, emphasizing plot information, ratings, critic excerpts and audience reviews rather than reproducing the original interactive campaign.
Production History Was More Complex Than a Routine Romantic Comedy
The screenplay originated after writer Tom Williams pitched several ideas to producer Harriet Rees at the 2007 International Screenwriters’ Festival. Rees considered Chalet Girl the strongest concept, and Williams submitted the first draft on Christmas Eve 2007. The screenplay reportedly went through more than 120 versions before filming was completed.
Rees, then a first-time feature producer, partnered with experienced producer Pippa Cross. Director Phil Traill joined after Rees met him in Los Angeles and Williams—who knew Traill from Newcastle University—contacted him about the project.
The film was an international British-German-Austrian production supported by a group of companies and financing bodies. Listed production participants include the UK Film Council, Aegis Film Fund, Prescience, CrossDay Productions, Kaleidoscope Films, Neue Bioskop Film and Austrian and German production partners. Momentum Pictures handled the principal UK theatrical campaign, while Paramount was involved in Germany and other European territories and IFC Films distributed the film in the United States.
The UK Film Council reportedly contributed £800,000, while approximately ten percent of the financing came through the Enterprise Investment Scheme. Budget limitations affected the finished production: scenes were removed, locations were altered and some performers supplied personal wardrobe or accessories. Brooke Shields, for example, reportedly wore her own engagement ring on screen.
These details will allow the article to explain that ChaletGirl-Movie.com promoted a genuinely independent European production rather than a major-studio romantic comedy, despite the recognizable international cast.
Filming Locations Can Be Described More Precisely
Filming ran from March 1 through May 7, 2010. Locations included:
- St. Anton am Arlberg in Tyrol, Austria.
- Kaunertal in Tyrol.
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany.
- London, England.
St. Anton was the primary visual setting. Much of the mountain and resort action was filmed around the town and the Galzig area, while additional slope footage was captured in Germany and Kaunertal. Travel coverage published after the film’s release explicitly connected the production with St. Anton and identified the Galzig area as particularly visible in the movie.
One especially useful location detail is that the building presented as the wealthy family’s chalet was reportedly the Museum St. Anton am Arlberg and its restaurant, close to the Galzigbahn lift station. This gives the eventual article a concrete geographical point of interest for visitors who want to locate recognizable settings.
The village sequences were filmed partly in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl was used for a breakup scene. A German log cabin reportedly doubled for a house supposedly located in West London, illustrating how the filmmakers stretched the budget through creative location substitution.
Production on a mountain created practical challenges. Camera crews had to operate on skis rather than conventional tracks in some locations, and as many as roughly 80 people reportedly worked on the alpine set. Filming was temporarily interrupted when the mountain had to be evacuated during a snowstorm.
Felicity Jones Underwent Significant Physical Preparation
Felicity Jones had little genuine snowboarding experience before production. She trained for approximately six hours per day over four weeks so she could perform as much of Kim’s basic snowboarding as practical. She also spent time with actual chalet staff through Flexiski to understand the working environment portrayed in the film.
Tamsin Egerton also entered production without skiing or snowboarding experience and trained for the role, although her skiing was largely absent from the final cut. Ed Westwick was already an experienced skier but had little snowboarding background.
Professional snowboarder Tara Dakides appeared as herself and contributed authenticity to the competition sequences. Her presence, together with Jones’s training and the real alpine locations, helps explain why even critics who considered the story predictable frequently responded positively to its sporting atmosphere and scenery.
The Premiere and Promotional Events Were Substantial
The world premiere was held at Westfield London on February 8, 2011. Promotional plans called for approximately 900 attendees and a public event in the shopping center’s atrium. The program included live music, red-carpet arrivals and an onstage question-and-answer session with cast members including Felicity Jones, Ed Westwick, Bill Nighy, Bill Bailey and Tamsin Egerton.
Westfield’s entrances were covered with promotional material, and the event was positioned as a public spectacle rather than a closed industry screening. Ed Westwick’s popularity from Gossip Girl was an important marketing asset and reportedly helped draw a large fan response at the premiere.
Additional screenings were connected to Comic Relief, giving the film a charitable dimension in its UK promotional campaign.
The production blog also shows that the campaign actively tracked online audience growth. By March 2011 it celebrated reaching 60,000 blog views and encouraged readers to help it reach 100,000. This is useful evidence of measurable interest, especially because comprehensive traffic records for ChaletGirl-Movie.com itself are not publicly available.
International Distribution Was Wider Than the U.S. Box Office Suggests
The film opened in the UK on March 16, 2011. It was released in Germany as Powder Girl on March 17 and in Austria on March 18. The Netherlands received an earlier release, and the official blog discussed encouraging audience reactions during the Dutch opening period. Australia received the film later in 2011.
In the United States, IFC Films gave the movie a very limited theatrical and video-on-demand release on October 14, 2011. Available records indicate it played in approximately one U.S. theater at opening and earned only a tiny theatrical gross there. That figure can be misleading when discussing overall popularity, since the American strategy emphasized limited release and home viewing rather than a conventional nationwide theatrical campaign.
The broader international gross is reported in several sources at approximately $5.5 million, although budget and gross figures vary between databases and should be presented cautiously.
Critical Reception Was Mixed but Jones Was Consistently Praised
Rotten Tomatoes’ current summary describes the film as light comedic entertainment aimed mainly at teenage girls and singles out Felicity Jones’s charming performance.
Contemporary reviews were divided primarily over the screenplay’s familiarity. Critics regularly identified recognizable components:
- A working-class heroine entering a wealthy environment.
- A rich, apparently unavailable romantic interest.
- A sports-training progression.
- A climactic competition.
- Personal grief that must be overcome.
- A Cinderella-like class transformation.
Yet reviewers who liked the film often argued that Jones’s naturalistic performance, Bill Nighy’s dry humor, Bill Bailey’s warmth, the alpine setting and the film’s refusal to become cruel compensated for its predictable structure. Screen Daily called it engagingly old-fashioned and compared its tone to traditions of British comedy.
The attached material preserves this split clearly. Some critics described the plot as formulaic, while others found it unexpectedly charming, visually appealing and carried by Jones. Audience comments likewise repeatedly use descriptions such as “feel-good,” “predictable,” “easy to watch” and “fun.”
The Film Has Developed a Modest Long-Term Following
The film did not become a blockbuster, but it has remained visible through streaming, digital rental, television broadcasts and online romance-film communities. Current availability listings continue to show it on major rental or subscription platforms.
Modern viewer discussions often frame it as a comfort film or easy-to-watch sports romance. Its continuing appeal rests less on surprise than on atmosphere: snowy scenery, an aspirational seasonal-work setting, a capable heroine, a class-crossing romance and an emotionally uncomplicated conclusion.
It also has retrospective importance because Felicity Jones later became an internationally prominent actor. Chalet Girl arrived during the period when she was transitioning from respected British television and stage work into leading film roles. Reviews that now appear prescient repeatedly identified her as the production’s central strength.
Cultural and Social Themes Worth Developing
The deeper article can go beyond a simple movie summary by examining several themes.
The first is class. Kim enters a world defined by private aircraft, luxury chalets, vintage champagne and wealthy families. Much of the comedy arises from the contrast between seasonal workers and clients, British working-class directness and upper-class manners, and labor versus leisure.
The second is women in action sports. Kim is not simply waiting to be selected romantically; her principal arc is reclaiming her identity as an athlete after trauma. Her skateboarding background transfers to snowboarding, making sport—not romance—the mechanism through which she regains confidence.
The third is grief. Kim’s reluctance to compete is connected to the death of her mother, meaning the climactic event represents psychological recovery as much as sporting victory.
The fourth is the mythology of chalet work. The film presents a glamorous, comic version of seasonal employment, but it also reflects the real cultural image of young British workers spending winters in Alpine resorts, serving affluent guests while participating in ski and nightlife culture.
The fifth is destination marketing. St. Anton is effectively another star of the film. The scenery, resort infrastructure and recognizable locations gave the movie value as indirect tourism promotion, and travel publications continued to reference the film when describing St. Anton after its release.
