The film moves pretty slowly for the first two thirds. They all hang around the house. The kids play. The couples display their relationship problems in small ways. The sisters go off together to leave the men to themselves. They eat. They sleep. And then one day they go to the lake and one of the children has an accident in the water. And that pushes the narrative in a totally different direction. The timeline becomes fragmented, with scenes coming out of sequence and another tragic story unfolding.
The early part of the film reminded me of Michael Haneke’s film Amour. Beautifully shot (by writier/director Laurynas Bareiša himself), but very slow, very routine and not especially interesting or enlightening. But once the narrative structure shifts, the film and the characters come to life. There are flashbacks to scenes we already saw that we see in a different light. At times it is disorienting. But that’s the point. Their lives have been altered and they have to find their way through their new reality.
This is not a film for everyone. It has the feel of a lot of European “trip to the country” flicks. And it does take too long to get to the part that makes it worth seeing. Nevertheless, I would recommend it to people looking for a family drama with a great cast and a surprising script.
In limited release now and expanding over the next months