Girl Review; Glasgow Film Festival.
It is great seeing good quality films being produced in Scotland.
The film plays out more as a character-driven film. It is incredibly light on narrative as we see a young mother that is overly protective of her daughter but their love for each other is strong. Of course, subtle character backgrounds and development happen. That is the entire film, two characters navigating the challenges of life/growing up with a stunning mother/daughter relationship being tested.
The two major standouts in the film are the score and cinematography. With a film that tells most of its story visually, the way the music just soothes and the cinematography is mesmerising with its strong lighting of purples and oranges. These two factors suck you into the film and being honest what makes the film worth checking out. It's an incredibly minimalist film but it's a film that truly puts the characters at the forefront (mentioned later.) The whole film feels calming and whimsical as colours wash over you and the soundtrack sends chills. You can tell the work/passion they put into creating this film. It mostly lets the technical part push the narrative forward and it does so effectively.
Acting by the whole cast is so raw, and passionate and for many young newcomers, they have definitely showcased so much potential. Within the first five minutes, the audience will just want to protect the characters and feel their every emotion they are going through. It is not a lighthearted piece and the characters find that the subtle nature of handling these themes and emotions which is more captivating than being overly dramatic.
You can tell there is so much to like about this film; the performances and the technical elements however I do have some problems with the movie.
For people in Scotland or specifically Glasgow, one premise that was mentioned was the director's love for the amazing city. You can recognise places but the film could have been placed anywhere and not made an impact. Support local films, and upcoming talent and of course, if interested check this film out but don’t go into thinking the area will be utilised.
As mentioned, it's a film that focused on love and the crew clearly put so much passion into this project. During the Q&A the director stated along the lines that she wanted to put the characters at the forefront with the narrative taking the backseat. They successfully pulled this off but it massively hinders the pace and the engagement audiences have. You could have focused on the main goal but just brought in more narrative so people understood the premise. I was waiting for a large chunk of the film for the hook and the premise to kick in but halfway through you clock that this is the film, a detailed look at these characters. They have so much greatness within the film and they have the structure of a story and sadly just went with it.
Two more elements (very light spoilers!) worth mentioning are the flashback sequences, you understand what happened (sort of) but I wished it made it more clear with maybe a different scene than the same one repeatedly. In addition to, the obscurity of the ending, I liked how it is left to interpretation but when you see an audience member asking about it, it leaves you wondering how successful the film is in getting its subtle narrative across. I guess some will find the ending a disappointment with questions left to you.
To conclude, I was impressed by this film and for some, it will certainly be worth checking out. I think others will find it to be lacking narrative which could hinder their engagement throughout the entire run-time. I think overall though for a debut film this is a certainly strong way to start and it's exciting to see what's next for the whole crew.