Gelöscht

Erased tells the disturbing tale of a primary school teacher and single mother named Ana who gives birth to her daughter in a local hospital in Slovenia after the break-up of Yugoslavia.

When she checks into the hospital once her labour starts, she is told that none of her medical paperwork nor her national ID are in the system. Then, things get very scary once Ana is told her identity doesn't exist full stop.

From there, the movie unfolds like a Slovenian Kafka novel set in the 21st century. It calls attention to how much of our personal information is in the hands of others and how much we take our nationality for granted. I stumbled upon this film one afternoon and it held my attention until its conclusion.

The acting is excellent and the script (based on the director's own novel of the same name as the film) is outstanding. The movie was filmed on a low budget with a small (unknown to me) cast. It didn't seem to attract much attention outside of Europe, which is a shame given it's an excellent movie. I had never heard of the film's subject matter but it left me feeling uneasy and sympathetic to Ana's fate.