Murina

The director and the actors did a great job getting the feelings of each person on the surface. Suddenly, in the so-called East democracies we live along with the referred in the film stereotypes. A fair criticism to the patriarchal family which oppresses mainly the female members whose unhappiness inevitably drives to a miserable if not unloving family. See the twenty-first century shame through the eyes of a girl which is taught to suppress it's freedom... but decides to claim the happiness everyone stole her... Deserved the awards it got, beautiful landscapes. The ending left me feeling optimistic!

I found the father figure infuriating, but it provoked such a strong reaction. Its a movie about family strife, and it does that very well. Also, the will to overcome adversity in adolescence. Settings beautiful and acting was impressive.

A lovely film that transports you back to summer , , also a well performed and excellently written and directed film.

Essentially, it tells the story of a young woman and her domineering father on vacation in Croatia, swimming, snorkelling and seemingly following his expectations for her future, that is until a an old friend of the family comes along and sees how she is being stifled by her own father, so tries to help her break out and find her own potential. The results are tense and dramatically powerful but ring true as an honest coming of age tale. It's all wonderfully done and with a real sense of location, summer, youth and beauty. Well worth a watch.

Writer/Director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic's debut feature is all it could be from a director who also used to dive in the film's idyllic Croatian coast setting.

This films builds on the director's underwater camera work in her enjoyable short Into the Blue (2017), and in acting and screen presence of actress Gracija Filipovic. This feature was in fact written with this teenage actor/non-actor in mind after the short. Gracia was 12 yr old then and showed promise and shines 4 years later in this character study.

The story has strong writing as it tackles teenage rebellion, family and relationship dynamics with evolving dreams of love, sexuality, freedom and purpose.

The father, mother and daughter relationships are complicated in this small village and when a wealthy, well-travelled long-time friend comes to spend some time with the family, much is revealed of the desires and dissatisfactions of all three family members.

The directing, cinematography and editing of this evolving drama are so strong that every shot of the 96 min movie is a pleasure. The acting is nuanced and elevated from the four leads. The underwater shots are beautiful and tell the story with images, sounds and occasional music. The first and final long shots of the movie tell a tight story visually that induce emotions viscerally and intellectually.

It is no surprise that the film won Camera d'Or at Cannes and over 20 other awards in 65 film festival worldwide.

Looking forward to Antoneta's next film which centers on a mother and daughter relationship and perhaps also catching some of her previous shorts, including If We Must Die (2016).

In short, this is a melancholic, beautiful drama with stunning cinematography and deft directing. A simple story with substance. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this film. The picture and scenery looked stunning. The acting was pretty good overall.

But at the same time, I felt this film lacked proper character development, given its subject. The story is about a controlling father and his relationship with his daughter and our main hero Julija. But here is the thing - Julija is shown as very much her own person right from the start. She has a no-nonsense attitude and is happy to tell-off anyone (including her father) whenever she feels like it. If anything, at times it felt like her mother was actually the controlling parent with her constant remarks ("please wear this dress", "please don't speak" and so on).

Since Julija was in command from the start, the whole climax of the film felt rather pointless, or at least disengaging. We already knew she was independent.