Focus, Grandma (2020) User Reviews

Smart satire

[myaso2004 · 8/10 · 17 October 2020]

Pjer Zalica directs another bright allegory on the relationship in pre-war Yugoslavia in quirky comedy "Focus, Grandma". He gathers a family who comes from different parts of Yugoslavia around the deathbed of their mother (and mother-in-law) in Sarajevo on the eve of the civil war. Instead of focusing on the political views, he smartly builds non-functioning family ties as they revealed in all their "beauty" when it turns out that the expected matriarch's death is yet to happen and the race for her will begins. And it's not that those political views do not exist in the film, but they are brought in a small dose and very accurately. Each character seems to have an important role in the structure of the film, which is both funny and smart.

Amazing movie!

[kerim-47237 · 8/10 · 15 August 2020]

This movie was simply put amazing. The movie managed to be funny and serious at the same time. It perfectly illustrated the situation in Yugoslavia just before the war broke out.

Spoiler alert: I think that the dying grandma represents Yugoslavia/Bosnia and that the diffrent couples represent the different ethnic groups in Yugoslavia.

I would recommend this movie to anyone seeking some good laughs and to someone who would like to know what the situation in Yugoslavia looked like just brinks before the war.

okay movie, but just okay

[rinakarinaka · 4/10 · 23 September 2020]

The simple family quarrel movie played by renowned actors from the region has its nice moments, but fails to develop into something really interesting. The main limitation of the movie is fact that it plays against the historical backdrop, eg the breakup of former Yugoslavia. For everyone not familiar with the subject and historical facts movie will probably prove hard to understand. Still, it plays smoothly and is entertaining from time to time. The execution is a bit boring, and the main problem is the ending that's imo hollow, with no point.