Unclenching the Fists 2021

I'm afraid this movie would be lost on foreign audience. There are a key moment, although you can put it together a bit earlier if you notice info on the year their moved to this town, to understand it. The moment you realise what traumatic event happened to that family - everything starts to make sense. You start to see each and everyone behaviour in a new light, in far better light. It's more powerful because it doesn't even named properly in the film, because there are no in-universe reason to explain further. Not to people around them, not to intended audience.

Not gonna lie, until that moment. I felt as lost as any foreigner would probably be. I don't know this part of my country, not really. Their culture, their language, their gender roles.

Film and it characters felt incredibly real. You know that type of acting where you don't see acting. You might as well tell me it was a documentary and I would have believe you.

Like the scar on their derrière, this is simple, tragic and gorgeous all at once.

A young Russian woman has to deal with finding love where she doesn't want it and not finding love where she looks hardest.

There is a definite 'rapey' vibe to the film, where her stalker keeps luring her into isolated places, her younger brother insists on spooning in bed with her after she begs him to leave, and her dad massages her while telling her to stay away from boys...

These elements add a tension to the film that will have viewers clenching their fists throughout the first 2 acts. As the story unfolds, however, we realize we've unclenched them. The way the director takes us on her character's journey is quite remarkable.

Note: Unclenching the Fists won the "Un Certain Regard" award at the 2021 Cannes film festival. While I hate film awards, I usually pay attention to the "WTF" category at Cannes.