Young Critics Lab

20 décembre 2024

TOXIC - Review by Anja Šćepanović

"Toxic" ("Akiplėša"), a Lithanian film directed and written by Saulė Bliuvaitė, was screened at the Les Arcs Film Festival as a part of the competition selection, followed by a Q&A session. The director’s feature debut premiered at the Locarno Film Festival where it won the Golden Leopard, and has since been circulating through acclaimed festivals all over the world.

Produced by Giedrė Burokaitė and distributed by Bendita Film Sales, the film showcases great performances by young talents Vesta Matulytė (as Marija) and Ieva Rupeikaitė (as Kristina) in the lead roles. 

The story is set in a small Lithuanian town, a sort of toxic environment, that many wish to escape. Marija and Kristina are 13-year-old enemies-turned-friends who join a modeling agency hoping it would be their way out. Instead, this experience only further complicates their relationships with their bodies, pushing them to cross physical limits. Toxic is personal to Bliuvaitė, as it’s shot in her hometown Kaunas, a place that wasn’t far different than how it’s portrayed in the film. In her younger years, the idea of escaping for a better life was popular in the 90s Lithuania and its many blonde, tall and lean girls tried to fight for it by modeling. But modeling imposed beauty standards impossible to keep up with especially for teenagers whose bodies are constantly changing .

Bliuvaitė’s unique visual style often resembles video art as she relies on abstract and conceptual visuals, using bodies to convey emotions rather than traditional storytelling. The director added she was inspired by female photographers Diane Arbus and Rineke Dijkstra who capture “peculiar bodies” – much like Bliuvaitė did in Toxic, aiming to show their vulnerability and beauty. She approaches her characters with a female and empathetic gaze. The film is full of incredibly composed shots – each one being an image of their own, but they’re not images without a purpose. They’re not meant to just be beautiful, just like the young girls in the film aren’t. One specific sequence stands out: Kristina is crawled up in grass in great pain after ingesting a tapeworm to lose weight, and in the following scene many girls at the modeling school are moving in a line that reflects a worm’s shape. This masterful transition is one of the most striking visual metaphors in the film.

The film’s strongest point may be the accuracy that was crafted with what seems like a lot of intention and patience. It’s not an easy watch because the girls are experiencing a lot of hardship. It’s a tough watch because it’s painfully relatable, especially for women. Aimless late nights spent with older boys throwing themselves at you, talking about sex as if you’re not still a kid, first experiences with alcohol and drugs, feeling like a stranger in your own body – Toxic feels like a trip down memory lane to the “sweet” and “safe” years that turned out to be the most confusing of them all. By putting it in the context of modeling, the director further emphasizes that the girls are wrongfully taught it’s their bodies that matter most. 

That being said, if you’re searching for an entertaining and light-hearted movie, don’t expect that from Toxic. As the name suggests it shows all sorts of toxicity young girls are surrounded by – as Bliuvaitė explained – the toxic relationships, beauty standards, toxic masculinity and the environment in which they’re trying to come of age and find their place in the world. Bliuvaitė mentioned that the audience may find the characters grumpy or annoying, wishing they would smile more. However, that’s exactly the point she’s trying to make. Girls don’t need a “you’ll look better if you smile”, they need to know that they have the right to smile no matter how they look.

Anja Šćepanović