Enfnts Terribles

Minutes after having seen Girl for the first time, I recorded a voice message on my phone. To capture what I felt, so that I would be able to listen to it later and relive that moment of pure overwhelmedness. The excerpt above is (part of) the literal transcription of that voice message, the silences true to live and meaningful. Girl made quite the impact.

I wouldn’t normally write a review from a first person singular point of view, but my experience watching Girl has been too personal for anything else.

Cannes first, Oscars next?

For anyone who has been living under a rock the past year: Girl is the debut of Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont. The movie about a young transgender girl studying to become a ballerina while struggling with her identity had its world premiere during the Film Festival in Cannes this year, and it took the festival by storm. Girl got awarded the Camera d’Or for best debut, the Queer Palm, and lead actor Victor Polster won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize for Best Actor. Deservedly, Girl will be the Belgian submission for the Oscars next year.

Polster’s performance is intimate and personal, it’s truthful, almost hypnotizing. Arieh Worthalter deserves a special mention for his honest and heartfelt portrayal of Lara’s father, who witnesses firsthand that loving your child unconditionally isn’t always enough to make your child love itself.

Girl is not a movie of big emotions and in that, it is. Girl doesn’t scream, it is not a tearjerker, its breaking point is not loud nor obnoxious. Instead, emotions are raw, in their purest form, true to life. Girl is a story of strength, of perseverance and growth, it breaks your heart only to mend it immediately after. The movie moves, not only emotionally but visually, with ballet scenes that are equal parts electrifying and mesmerizing.