A raw portrait of two teenage girls who have dreams of escaping a gritty Lithuanian industrial town. Thirteen-year-olds Marija (Vesta Matulytė) and Kristina (Ieva Rupeikaitė) become friends at a sinister modeling school, where a better life beckons in exchange for extreme sacrifices. Their friendship grows amid poverty, toxic beauty ideals, and physical self-destruction, like flowers growing on rotting concrete walls.

Director Bliuvaitė weaves nerve-racking moments and tender details into an unsettling yet warm film. The choreography of the bodies forms the heart of the film, carried by the impressive performances of the young lead actors. A magnificent debut film, awarded the Golden Leopard and the prize for best debut in Locarno.

-Hil

Letterboxd

IMDb

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