Rating: 4/5
— how could you judge without seeing? You could just look at what I've got here, but you judge me right away
Eevi is an awkward, unpredictable woman who lives with her sister Ami. But when Ami kicks her out so that Ami’s girlfriend can move in, Eevi’s sense of abandonment and rage manifests in stealing Ami’s car and taking a road trip
Though Eevi constantly seeks connection, she cannot tolerate it when it doesn’t happen how she wants it. What begins as a curiosity around violence and sadism evolves into kidnapping and murder
The film unfolds unusually, not explicitly stating why we’re following Eevi or what we should learn from her. But as the story unfolds, like cards mid-shuffle, everything falls into place, and the portrait makes (enough) sense
The cinematography does an impressive job unveiling new information and framing moments. Also, the final sequence is so beautiful and freaky
The world painted in this movie is full of dismissive cruelty — we see so few people that it’s hard to tell what is supposed to be “normal” behavior. I think it’s intentional, letting the audience know that it’s not what Eevi feels that is the problem but how those feelings manifest
This is a striking and intense debut film from Auli Mantila — I’m looking forward to checking out Geography of Fear (if I can track down a copy)
Stray Thoughts:
- Did she spill fondue on her hand at the club? Were ’90s Finnish dance clubs serving fondue?
- I saw so many infomercials for chat lines in the ’90s/early 00s — I didn’t realize you could dial in and listen to other people chat
- The painting of the angel watching over the kid — how can we understand and assume its intentions?
- Animal violence :( Thankfully, we don’t see anything
- Is Pepsi a good dog name? It’s certainly a non-American dog name
- The butterfly collector seems the same to her because they both want to collect beauty, even if it means harming it