Publisher: CinemaSerf January 5, 2023
This has quite an interesting premise to it. It centres on "Andrej" (Matej Zemljic), a young man whose life is pretty adrift. His parents and his school cannot manage him so he is sent to a detention centre where he initially falls foul of, then befriends "Zele" (Timon Sturbej). Now this fella is the local drug dealer, money lender and general hoodlum and "Andrej", though wayward, isn't that type of guy - he loves his pet rat! What seems to cement their bond is that the former becomes infatuated by the latter, and is soon acting as his enforcer. Thing is, is he just being used as a puppet by a "Zele" who is fully aware that his friend is smitten with him - indeed, even indulges it now and again - or might something meaningful come of it? Zemljic is on good form here. He presents his character's confused naivety and his struggle for self-identification and affection well. Sturbej is also effective as his manipulative pal, but the story itself is a bit rudderless. The plot could have been developed more had Darko Sante allowed the two principal characters more screen time on their own. I don't mean in-the-sack screen time, but some more opportunity for us to understand a little more about how "Andrej" became a pawn so easily/readily/willingly. The ending is not unexpected, but I couldn't help but feel rather let down by it's angry simplicity - it really does snuff out any semblance of hope or optimism. The production and direction are fine, though, and overall I think it is well worth a watch.