DIRECTOR: Laurynas Bareisa
STARRING: Gelmine Glemzaite, Agne Kaktaite, Giedrius Kiela, Paulius Markevicius
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr 28 minutes
LANGUAGE: Lithuanian
Together with her sister Juste's family, Ernesta, her husband Lukas, and their son Kristupas are spending their weekend at a country house after her husband's victory in the fighting cage. After a tragic accident, the sisters become single mothers.
***
Director Laurynas Bareisa is back after being submitted in 2022 for his excellent film Pilgrims. His newest film is Drowning Dry. The film won best director in the international competition and best performance award for the film’s four leads (Gelmine Glemzaite, Agne Kaktaite, Giedrius Kiela, and Paulius Markevicius) at the Locarno Film Festival in August 2024, which was the world premiere for the film.
The chairman of the Lithuanian Film Centre stated that the film was chosen due to the director’s original thinking, distinctive storytelling, the boldness of his creative explorations, and the excellent acting ensemble.
The producer is Klementina Remeikaitė for Afterschool Production of Lithuania and the co-producer is Matīss Kaža for Trickster Pictures of Latvia.
Drowning Dry is a drama filmed north of Vilnius in Maisiagala.
To check out all previous submissions for Lithuania, click HERE.
STARRING: Gelmine Glemzaite, Agne Kaktaite, Giedrius Kiela, Paulius Markevicius
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr 28 minutes
LANGUAGE: Lithuanian
Together with her sister Juste's family, Ernesta, her husband Lukas, and their son Kristupas are spending their weekend at a country house after her husband's victory in the fighting cage. After a tragic accident, the sisters become single mothers.
***
Director Laurynas Bareisa is back after being submitted in 2022 for his excellent film Pilgrims. His newest film is Drowning Dry. The film won best director in the international competition and best performance award for the film’s four leads (Gelmine Glemzaite, Agne Kaktaite, Giedrius Kiela, and Paulius Markevicius) at the Locarno Film Festival in August 2024, which was the world premiere for the film.
The chairman of the Lithuanian Film Centre stated that the film was chosen due to the director’s original thinking, distinctive storytelling, the boldness of his creative explorations, and the excellent acting ensemble.
The producer is Klementina Remeikaitė for Afterschool Production of Lithuania and the co-producer is Matīss Kaža for Trickster Pictures of Latvia.
Drowning Dry is a drama filmed north of Vilnius in Maisiagala.
To check out all previous submissions for Lithuania, click HERE.
FILM REVIEW:
(This review contains spoilers.)
“I am enough as I am.”
Drowning Dry is a film that intricately plays with the perception of time and memory, creating a narrative experience that is as fragmented as it is profound. The story begins with what appears to be a serene family vacation but quickly unravels into a tale of tragedy and psychological trauma.
The film starts with two sisters, Ernesta and Juste, both of whom are married and have one child each. They head to their summer country house with their families to enjoy a time of drinking, dancing, smoking, eating, and swimming. Drowning Dry blurs the lines between past, present, and future, intentionally confusing the audience. This technique amplifies the emotional weight of the story, immersing the viewer in the characters’ disorientation and sense of disconnection. The initial calm is abruptly shattered by a shocking event, captured in a single, uninterrupted take, which highlights the fragility of happiness and the suddenness of loss.
The film explores gender roles and masculine posturing as central themes. Lukas, with his victorious martial arts career, represents traditional notions of masculine superiority, creating tension with his wife, Ernesta, and Tomasz, Juste’s husband. Tomasz’s reckless behavior in an attempt to assert his masculinity leads to the tragic event, underscoring the destructive potential of such posturing. The film suggests that these gendered dynamics and societal pressures are catalysts for the ensuing tragedy.
The detached, almost clinical observation of the characters’ interactions heightens the film’s sense of unease. This detachment extends to the audience’s emotional engagement, as the film presents experiences through a fragmented lens and focuses on the repetitious nature of trauma.
The characters aren’t drowning in a lake but on dry land, experiencing a profound, suffocating sense of loss and displacement. The lack of clear emotional resolution or deep exploration of the personal feelings of both sisters emphasizes the film’s thematic focus on the inevitability of moving forward despite unresolved grief and fragmentation.
REVIEW: B+
(This review contains spoilers.)
“I am enough as I am.”
Drowning Dry is a film that intricately plays with the perception of time and memory, creating a narrative experience that is as fragmented as it is profound. The story begins with what appears to be a serene family vacation but quickly unravels into a tale of tragedy and psychological trauma.
The film starts with two sisters, Ernesta and Juste, both of whom are married and have one child each. They head to their summer country house with their families to enjoy a time of drinking, dancing, smoking, eating, and swimming. Drowning Dry blurs the lines between past, present, and future, intentionally confusing the audience. This technique amplifies the emotional weight of the story, immersing the viewer in the characters’ disorientation and sense of disconnection. The initial calm is abruptly shattered by a shocking event, captured in a single, uninterrupted take, which highlights the fragility of happiness and the suddenness of loss.
The film explores gender roles and masculine posturing as central themes. Lukas, with his victorious martial arts career, represents traditional notions of masculine superiority, creating tension with his wife, Ernesta, and Tomasz, Juste’s husband. Tomasz’s reckless behavior in an attempt to assert his masculinity leads to the tragic event, underscoring the destructive potential of such posturing. The film suggests that these gendered dynamics and societal pressures are catalysts for the ensuing tragedy.
The detached, almost clinical observation of the characters’ interactions heightens the film’s sense of unease. This detachment extends to the audience’s emotional engagement, as the film presents experiences through a fragmented lens and focuses on the repetitious nature of trauma.
The characters aren’t drowning in a lake but on dry land, experiencing a profound, suffocating sense of loss and displacement. The lack of clear emotional resolution or deep exploration of the personal feelings of both sisters emphasizes the film’s thematic focus on the inevitability of moving forward despite unresolved grief and fragmentation.
REVIEW: B+
