Something notable about #Venezia80 is that a large number of films deal with subjects surrounding young people. Competition entry Finally Dawn from Saverio Costanzo is seen through the eyes of an accidental actress who learns to grow up in the course of one night. Also in competition, Adagio by Stefano Sollima revolves around a teenage boy embroiled in drug wars and political scandals. Then there’s Sofia Coppola’s Prescilla, which takes a sensitive look at the relationship between Elvis and a 14-year-old girl. In earlier dispatches, I’ve already discussed Explanation for Everything and Io Capitano, both carried by school-aged protagonists. Today, two more will be added to the list.
Premiering in competition, Belgian director Fien Troch’s fifth narrative feature Holly is a high school-set supernatural thriller/drama in the vein of Carrie and Joachim Trier’s Thelma. I think it could have ended in a more interesting place, but the curious premise and an arresting lead performance do manage to keep the slow burn going for most of its runtime.
Played by Cathalina Geeraerts, the titular Holly is a high-schooler who seems a bit different from her peers. In the opening scene we see her and her pal Bart interacting with a group of girls around their age. It’s quickly established that the neurotic Bart is often subjected to bullying and Holly is the cool gal whose imperturbable composure makes the bullies nervous. Things get a little weird when on the day Holly calls in sick and stays at home, a fire broke out at her school and killed many of her classmates. Instead of being treated as the school witch, however, Holly starts to earn a reputation as healer, with her touch believed to bring comfort and cure diseases.
I’m impressed by the way Troch builds tension and a pervasive sense of unease with very limited means. Beyond the supernatural element, many scenes in the film’s chill, foreboding first half depict ordinary high school life while picking up the invisible pressure and cruelty faced by the students. At times reminiscent of Julia Ducournau’s breakout hit Raw, the scenes communicate teenage angst with great eloquence and efficiency. Geeraerts’ subtle, finely observed performance keeps Holly a complete enigma, which is more unsettling than any visual effect.
Considering the promise of the build-up, I’m a bit let down by the film’s third act, which seems unsure of what it wants to say. Both Holly’s reaction to the fatal consequences of her behavior and Bart’s growth out of an insecure, bullied boy feel strangely half-done to me. As a cross between coming-of-age story and spooky mood piece, Holly intrigues but ultimately fails to surprise.
Over at the Orizzonti sidebar, Bill Ross and Turner Ross offer up the loud, adorably scrappy road movie Gasoline Rainbow which follows five high school graduates on their last trip before adulthood and, amidst all the drunken craziness, delivers a sweet, melancholic generational portrait.
Micah, Tony, Nichole, Nathaly and Makai grew up in small town Oregon. Like every other kid, they like to party and have a good time. They also share the same anxiety of not knowing what the future holds once they leave school. But before reality kicks in, they decide to travel to the Pacific coast together one last time. Over the course of the 500-mile journey, they would get creative as their car is quickly made useless, encounter fellow travelers of the most random kind and learn their unique stories, party like there’s no tomorrow and privately reflect on where their 18-year-old selves can go from here. The script, to the extent that there is one, feels completely organic, improvisational. No narrative arc seems to be in place, which makes for a pretty wild, chaotic ride. At the same time, a truthfulness about these characters and their fears and dreams really comes through.
The five first-time actors also contribute greatly to the remarkable authenticity. At no time does it strike you that they’re “acting”. The punk look, the casual speech, the relaxed way they are around each other, all of it so endearingly real. There’s something about a spontaneous laugh between friends that simply can’t be staged. The Ross brothers capture the youthful energy of the group with naturalism and much love. For all the monkey business the kids get into, the film never condescends. If anything, you sense the filmmakers’ determination to record an as yet unjaded generation’s capacity for fun.
There are movies that you can tell, just a few minutes in, would make you emotional. This year I experienced that with Past Lives where, as soon as I saw the arranged playdate in Seoul to “create a happy memory”, I knew it’s going to wreck me. In Gasoline Rainbow, a character talks about graduating high school, all the uncertainty that comes with it, and going on this trip with his friends before they take responsibility for their own lives. The quiet momentousness of the statement and the sheer vulnerability of his voice let me know right away that this movie won’t be just silly and loud. And indeed, when the five young adults finally reach their destination and walk on the misty beach towards a rising sun, I can’t help but remember something and feel this mushy urge to wish them nothing but the best.
