Film review: TOXIC: Saule Bliuvaite's intense, dark drama realistically depicts the lives of two young wannabe models [Locarno 2024]

Toxic review

Toxic / Akiplesa (2024) movie review from the 77th Locarno Film FestivalA film Screenplay and direction Saule Bliuvaite and with Vesta Matulyte, Ieva Rupeikaite, Giedrius Savickas, Vilma Raubaite And Egle Gabrenait.

From Lithuania comes Poisonousa frighteningly authentic story about two girls at a modeling school whose lives gradually spiral out of control. The film starts with a young girl in a dressing room who thinks someone has stolen her jeans. She tries to get them back, but the other girls are mean to her and show little sympathy. As it turns out, the film's plot revolves around a modeling school where a persuasive woman tricks parents into sending their young girls there in the hope of success. Filmmaker Saule Bliuvaite seems to know about such schools and how they exploit the idea that you can get rich just by walking the runway and looking pretty. Most of the time, reality doesn't really bring the desired results and this film proves that through the way some of the girls' lives unfold throughout the film.

There are two stars of the film, Vesta Matulyte and Ieva Rupeikaite, who are young girls trying to become models: Marija and Kristina. Marija has a limp but is very pretty and at one point her features are analyzed and you think she has real potential in the world of modeling. Kristina comes from a background where they are greedy for money but she is perhaps just as attractive as Marija. Kristina is a little rougher but the two girls develop a bond over the course of the film which the director conveys well.

Young girls talk about going to Tokyo, New York and the like and achieving great success there. A pregnant young woman talks about older men trying to get together with models and explains to her potential model acquaintances how to handle such situations. However, the film is set in an area where people are not rich but still somehow manage to pay for modeling school to fulfill a possible dream.

Kristina would do anything for a dollar. When her father asks her to leave a less than acceptable room she is occupying in her house so he can bring his girlfriend, he ends up offering her $10. Kristina convinces him, originally offering her $5. In another scene, a guy tries to have sex with Kristina, which she isn't really interested in, but she tells him she will if he pays. He is insulted and walks away. Kristina has a terrible life and Marija's isn't so great considering she lives with her grandmother. Both girls deserve happiness but find little joy in their everyday endeavors in the film.

In one particularly striking scene, the young potential models walk around in a formation reminiscent of a mass event. The scene is well staged and proves that these girls, as special as they feel, are just being used as potential bait to make money. That's not to say there aren't any real success stories in the world of modeling, but in the situation the film proposes, it feels like a likely dead end most of the time.

There is a scene where Kristina orders a tapeworm pill on the dark web that she is willing to pay for. This leads to some disturbing scenes that are also likely to get under your skin. The lengths the girls go to in this film to be successful are disturbingly conceived, but most likely true in the real world.

In one scene, Kristina's overweight father dances with the woman he meets. It's a juxtaposition of the father and his daughter's character. The father is living a fairytale by dancing, while his daughter is living a hellish life that most likely won't be cured by a modeling job, but if the father believes his daughter will be OK, then that's all he really cares about at the moment. He seems to have no idea.

The cast is perfectly assembled. Vesta Matulyte and Ieva Rupeikaite deliver performances full of teenage angst that are captured with a lot of realism. The film's authenticity factor is only compromised by scenes that take us out of the plot, such as the dance sequence with Kristina's father. This part of the film feels odd, but stylistically it is appropriate for the material at hand. Giedrius Savickas and Vilma Raubaite play their supporting characters in a way that fits the film's themes, but it is perhaps the young Rupeikaite who manages to get the film's most well-developed character.

The film ends with a shot of a spinning car driving in circles. The ending of the film can have multiple meanings and it will definitely inspire thought-provoking conversations, as good films do. Poisonous is a powerful film that often drifts in directions that are uncomfortable for the viewer, but makes some compelling arguments along the way.

Reviews: 8/10

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