An early worm catches the girl. That's how the famous saying goes, right? It's as good a time as any to touch base with teenage angst, eating disorders and shitty pranks when we head over to a grimy small town, the coming-of-age drama Toxic (Akiplėša in Lithuanian) being our vehicle of choice. There we meet Marija (Vesta Matulytė), a lanky 13-year-old who's getting bullied and ostracised by her peers due to her limp and appearance, one of her foes being Kristina (Ieva Rupeikaitė). After a tussle over a stolen pair of jeans, they reunite at a local modelling school when Marija follows Kristina there, the latter hoping that a career as a model would be a ticket out of this dead-end town. Marija joins her in sharing these ambitions and they become friends, creating all kinds of hijinks and exploring toxic relationships with their bodies along the way.
Since the first few scenes already feature social pressure, ableist language and bullying because of what is considered abnormal by some, you get a clear sense of what director-writer Saulė Bliuvaitė (making her feature debut in the former role) wishes to investigate and observe with Toxic—a big indicator of a filmmaker's confident vision. Together, Marija and Kristina criticise and violate their own bodies in different ways because of unrealistic, pernicious beauty standards that the girls express to be even higher for them as a result of their lower social standing. The oppressiveness of their industrial hometown also underlines their anxiety. We see the girls socialise with adults that have lost their hopes and dreams, a bunch of predatory young men (read: losers) who are probably never going to grow up in this town, as well as other older girls and women who haven't got anywhere yet either.
All these situations examine unhealthy self-image, faux maturity, femininity and the fear of being seen as an outcast, hence one would want to be a model since they essentially wear fancy disguises while being a part of an assembly line. These themes also overlap consistently in the movie and Aura Narmontaitė's costume design plays a big part in that, dressing Marija and Kristina as kids cosplaying adults in the hope of being perceived as someone who's ready to leave their nest.
As a director, Bliuvaitė designs and visualises the story rather stunningly in general. Working with cinematographer Vytautas Katkus, the camera placement and compositions often squeeze the girls beneath structures, buildings, factories and even men, whilst also having something dirty or decaying in the image, like on the walls. The visual storytelling is strong throughout. Along with with the rest of the creative team, they manage to capture the doom and gloom of these types of small towns, which lack colour and prospects (yours truly can attest to that having lived in one of them), and from which you so desperately want to escape.
Bliuvaitė also succeeds in articulating the themes elsewhere, including in the performances she pulls out of her two leads, both making their screen acting debuts. Matulytė sells Marija's awkwardness well whereas Rupeikaitė possesses a certain kind of intensity that is very captivating. She skilfully balances Kristina's grit with her desperation. Aside from them and Giedrius Savickas (as Kristina's dad Šarūnas) who gets one neat scene towards the end to shine, there are some stiff or borderline amateurish performances from actors in small roles. There's also the bullying and framing of the cliques, which feel more akin to Hollywood productions rather than real life; thankfully, though, we mostly spend time with our main characters.
The quality of Bliuvaitė's writing peaks in the middle section when we really get some singular touches when it comes to the hijinks and more troubling elements—a consumption of a tapeworm, eating disorders, bootleg piercings (all standing in for self-harm, most likely), for example—therefore it is a slight bummer that the final third loses a bit of steam pretty much in every department. You can't help but worry about these kids so the fact that the ending, and final couple shots especially, solicits merely a shrug is slightly disappointing to say the least. Nevertheless, the good outweighs the so-so easily. This is a stylish, emotionally raw piece of filmmaking about growing up. It's darkly absurd sometimes; it's a bit rough to a degree, but ultimately it does feel truthful. Hopefully there's more to come from these artists.
Smileys: Directing, Ieva Rupeikaitė
Frowneys: Some issues with ending and acting
Use the runway to run away.
3.5/5
This article may contain affiliate links, which means that we may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. Thank you for the support!
