1950s.

Cecilia, a teenager without family or protection, is crushed by the harshness of her surroundings. After being abused by the director of the orphanage where she lives, she becomes pregnant. Her attempt to assign paternity to a peer is met with disbelief and violence in a society that suppresses the truth to maintain appearances. To hide the pregnancy and preserve the institution’s respectability, Cecilia is sent to an isolated villa where Ida, a woman consumed by an unfulfilled desire for motherhood, plans to raise the baby as her own.

At the villa, Cecilia meets Alma, Ida’s maid, and for the first time experiences care and attention, albeit filtered through selfish motives and personal fragility. A deep bond forms between the three women, creating a fragile balance that provides temporary solace to their individual loneliness. However, the birth of the baby shatters this delicate harmony, bringing hidden tensions and unresolved wounds to the surface. The emotional dynamics grow increasingly complex, testing the fragile sanctuary they had built.

The narrative is an existential exploration of three intertwined lives—three impossible mothers—united by pain and the yearning to belong. Set in an era dominated by conformity and social judgment, the film portrays each character as a symbol of their generation, offering unique perspectives on the need for love and the profound scars left by its absence.

A dinner hosted by Ida serves as a chilling portrait of hypocrisy, deceit, and human pettiness.

The story incorporates rich symbolism drawn from nature and animals, particularly the recurring image of a crab wandering the table and garden. The crab symbolizes resurrection, shedding its mortal shell to be reborn, and inconsistency, moving both forward and backward, embodying indecision and instability.

Ida, an alcoholic, mirrors this duality. At times she is affectionate, nurturing, and reassuring, but she is more often cold, cruel, and violently dismissive.

The villa becomes a stage for theatrical performances and music that reflect the story’s tensions, anxieties, and deeper themes. Fate, as articulated by Ida, is inevitable: “You are what you are; you have what you have.”

According to the director, the film is inspired by generational experiences, transforming an individual story into a philosophical meditation on humanity’s innate need for recognition and acceptance.

Premiering at the 42nd Torino Film Festival, this Danish feature by Zentropa, with a nod to Antichrist by Lars von Trier, stands out as one of the event’s most captivating works. It is an unsettling examination of the universal impact of lovelessness as a primal violence and the devastation such a void can cause. Through an intimate and intricate narrative, the filmmaker delves into the shadows of the human soul, exploring the consequences of emotional emptiness as the central force in life.

28-Nov-2024 by Beatrice