Saw this at the Rotterdam film festival (IFFR) 2024. Opens several original and interesting avenues, all going nowhere in the end but still keeping our attention. I've read in other reviews that this filmmaker is in the habit of offering no solutions, so leaving open ends seems to be her trademark.
This is a story that can potentially go in a multitude of directions, something made very clear from the start. Our main protagonist Holly is nicknamed "the witch" by her fellow students. She is treated like an outsider, something observed by teacher Anna who wants to address that, but (as usual) is unable to solve it. Further, Holy calls herself sick at the very day her school burns down, thereby mentioning ominous feelings, no "real" sickness. At school her phone call is remembered as very peculiar. These facts combined foreshadow a SF/Horror genre plot, suggesting clairvoyance or other mystical crafts. We got no real proof, however, she has any such powers. And no one cares to explain how Holly got her nickname (we see her already called thus in an early scene, so before the school fire), possibly due to earlier predictions or other unexplained things.
Teacher Anna runs a team of volunteers for all sorts of extra-curricular activities. She convinces Holly to join the team (not welcomed by present team members, but it happens anyway), maybe as an attempt to get Holly out of her isolation. On a bus trip with parents of students who fell victim to the school fire, some discover that talking with Holly, or merely holding hands, has a remedial effect. Others hear that, meet with her, and even want to offer her money after meeting her. The money is used for buying shoes and a coat, more expensive stuff than what an average student can buy, as correctly observed by teacher Anna.
Holly's only friend Bart is also an outsider, but in a different way. Their common extraneous position binds them together. We see them appear frequently together in many scenes.
The school principal is shown in two weird scenes, not becoming a professional educator. Firstly, when Anna imposed a collective punishment on a class, forcing them to reveal who wrote on the wall, the class persists in silence and stands in the hallway for hours, something the school principal does not like. After a discussion with Anna, while busy with answering the phone rather than hearing Anna's reasoning, he resolves the situation in a non- pedagogical way. Secondly, we see Bart barging in after a desperate look for Holly. Rather than hearing what the issue is, the principal insists that Bart washes his hands first.
There is a second plot line with Anna and her husband desperately wanting to become pregnant. Anna is jealous at other parents who succeed without any effort. We see meetings in hospital. We see them busy in bed on unusual moments when Anna thinks she is most fertile. All to no avail. Near the end of the movie, however, after a hefty confrontation with Holly about abusing her powers and getting money for it, she suddenly feels something after Holly touches her. And lo and behold, she proves suddenly pregnant. There is no proof whatsoever that her contact with Holly had anything to do with her unexpected pregnancy. That is left for us to decide and connect the dots.
All in all, compelling story lines without offering a happy ending nor a solution to the issues involved. Also unsolved is the gap between adults and adolescents, two species who will never understand each other. The resulting movie was a pleasant surprise for me, as the synopsis that I've read beforehand did not promise so much interesting stuff.
This is a story that can potentially go in a multitude of directions, something made very clear from the start. Our main protagonist Holly is nicknamed "the witch" by her fellow students. She is treated like an outsider, something observed by teacher Anna who wants to address that, but (as usual) is unable to solve it. Further, Holy calls herself sick at the very day her school burns down, thereby mentioning ominous feelings, no "real" sickness. At school her phone call is remembered as very peculiar. These facts combined foreshadow a SF/Horror genre plot, suggesting clairvoyance or other mystical crafts. We got no real proof, however, she has any such powers. And no one cares to explain how Holly got her nickname (we see her already called thus in an early scene, so before the school fire), possibly due to earlier predictions or other unexplained things.
Teacher Anna runs a team of volunteers for all sorts of extra-curricular activities. She convinces Holly to join the team (not welcomed by present team members, but it happens anyway), maybe as an attempt to get Holly out of her isolation. On a bus trip with parents of students who fell victim to the school fire, some discover that talking with Holly, or merely holding hands, has a remedial effect. Others hear that, meet with her, and even want to offer her money after meeting her. The money is used for buying shoes and a coat, more expensive stuff than what an average student can buy, as correctly observed by teacher Anna.
Holly's only friend Bart is also an outsider, but in a different way. Their common extraneous position binds them together. We see them appear frequently together in many scenes.
The school principal is shown in two weird scenes, not becoming a professional educator. Firstly, when Anna imposed a collective punishment on a class, forcing them to reveal who wrote on the wall, the class persists in silence and stands in the hallway for hours, something the school principal does not like. After a discussion with Anna, while busy with answering the phone rather than hearing Anna's reasoning, he resolves the situation in a non- pedagogical way. Secondly, we see Bart barging in after a desperate look for Holly. Rather than hearing what the issue is, the principal insists that Bart washes his hands first.
There is a second plot line with Anna and her husband desperately wanting to become pregnant. Anna is jealous at other parents who succeed without any effort. We see meetings in hospital. We see them busy in bed on unusual moments when Anna thinks she is most fertile. All to no avail. Near the end of the movie, however, after a hefty confrontation with Holly about abusing her powers and getting money for it, she suddenly feels something after Holly touches her. And lo and behold, she proves suddenly pregnant. There is no proof whatsoever that her contact with Holly had anything to do with her unexpected pregnancy. That is left for us to decide and connect the dots.
All in all, compelling story lines without offering a happy ending nor a solution to the issues involved. Also unsolved is the gap between adults and adolescents, two species who will never understand each other. The resulting movie was a pleasant surprise for me, as the synopsis that I've read beforehand did not promise so much interesting stuff.