A family holiday frames this story of the struggle for identity of a transitioning daughter, Renata. It comes across like a deeply personal, acutely observed study, but I found it slightly self-indulgent and pretentious. It was lacking something. It felt like a rather aimless, meandering drama with some nicely done moments and a good performance from the mother, but with next to no real plot interest and no pacing atall.
Renata has a sister, Sienna, the two have an interesting relationship. They are very close and clearly respect and rely on eachother, but they are sometimes too close to eachother's personal lives, perhaps struggling to seperate them. Sienna is growing into her young adult life, and Renata is left to discover herself.
There are some accomplished aspects of the film. There is a scene in the back of a car which was was nicely done, and an early shot shows the family of 4 sat on the side of the road and silently communicates alot about their dynamic and Ren herself. She is dressed very plainly and sat on a tiny slab, tightly curled up, all closed in on herself. The others are on much bigger slabs (which adds to the visual meaphor) and look much more communicative with thier body language. Ren is centre of frame with the family either side of her, suggesting they support her but perhaps she rejects them.
There are lots of films that, in the sense of spending time with characters with little or no aim, feel like this and succeed, perhaps down to mood, world-building or performances, but this one was underdeveloped and didn't reach any heights for me.
2.5 out of 5
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