QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM LOCARNO

This is a film about Marija (Vesta Matulytė), a teenager who is bullied in part for her limp. She lives with her grandmother in a small town where everyone knows everything about each other. Marija erroneously accuses Kristina (Ieva Rupeikaitė) of stealing her trousers, which leads to an awkward exchange. They get over it in order to join a modelling class; it is said to lead to fame. This takes them down the thorny world of fashion, a place where horny teenage boys make innuendo. Lacking the finances needed for a professional portraiture, the two girls go on the hunt for alternative means of obtaining this kind of income.

The two leads exhibit poses they hope to present on the “cat walk”. “They’ll send you straight away to Japan, Korea, somewhere,” they tell themselves. In time honoured tradition, the teenagers are growing tired of their pastoral, homespun environment, and ache to go somewhere more exotic ie away from their parents or nosey guardians. Fashion speaks to the two as a means of escape, so they take to it like a fish thrives in a pool of water. The two leads bring enthusiasm to the proceedings, but their work isn’t matched by either the story or the look of the finished feature.

Toxic, despite the title, is by and large an anodyne feature. Taking the central dissertation – teenagers on the cusp of adolescence – the finished result shouldn’t feel so dishwater dull, but the finished feature lacks a little bite. And it’s not for lack of effort, when you factor in Marija’s abandonment issues (her biological mother spends almost every second with the hunky new boyfriend) or that this movie is about fashion. But little sparkles from the screen: a collection of setups lacking discernible flavour or ambition.

The cinematography is mostly a collection of static shots. It lacks frisson, confidence and vigour.

Matulytė delivers the most profound character, in a movie with mostly lukewarm performances. Her Marija searches for something more exciting out of life, keenly aware that her body has limitations. In an attempt to starve herself, the film depicts Marija vomiting at various points, pushing herself to get more credibility in an industry that favours unrealistic depictions of bodies. It’s unclear whether director Saulė Bliuvaitė is going for grit or fantasy in the puking scenes.

The girls are willing to accept any measure in order to lose weight. At one point, they are greeted by a boy who has found pills on the Dark Web, a domain where “children are for sale.” Like much of Toxic, Bliuvaitė doesn’t build on this set-up, providing neither a commentary on modelling diets or websites of poor standing. What ends up on the screen is splattered with potential, although little substance makes it to the final cut. By and large, the boys in this town are fairly vile, commenting on their potential’s ripeness. One of them is gentlemanly enough to say he prefers sexual partners to be “virgins”.

This Lithuanian film does not provide any of the male characters a decent arc beyond generic thuggery. True, the world of fashion often veers on the male gaze but predictably, the movie doesn’t serve to make any remarks about changing norms in the industry.

Toxic showed in the Official Competition of the 77th Locarno Film Festival, where it won the event’s top prize. It also shows in the 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.