There are a lot of phrases that revolve around water. Many of them apply to the life of 15 year old Elisa (Stephanie Amarell), who must keep her head above water while being caught between her parent‘s messy separation and classmate intrigues. When enigmatic Anthea (Lisa Vicari) helps her out after a dizzy spell while swimming, Elisa‘s life finally gets more fun and adventurous. But Anthea‘s friendship comes at a cost, and Elisa soon has to learn how to break free. Director Luzie Loose‘s film, which she also wrote, is about established coming-of-age themes, oppositions that attract and friendships that are more complex than intimate romantic relationships. Loose‘s film is characterized by the convincing insight into the microcosm of teenagers and the authenticity of the actors as well as the figures they play. Lisa Vicari (from DARK) is especially natural and striking. Her Anthea seems to be ice cold. Her and Elisa gain power by making secret embarrassing videos of her classmates and posting them online. They keep getting more unethical, but they only take revenge on people who have done the same to them in the past. Everyone in their age group is well aware of the power of images, exhibitionism, and performing in front of the camera and urges the other to escalate. Water is a reoccuring motif through all this. A bluish aesthetic is imbued throughout the entire film and lends the film debut an expressive visual vocabulary. Anne Bolick won the award for Best Cinematography at the “ achtung berlin – new berlin film award“, Luzie Loose won the Best Director at the Hofer Filmtagen. All those involve deserve to have a lot success when it comes to cinemas too.

Katharina Franck (INDIEKINO MAGAZIN)

Translation: Elinor Lewy