Stranger Things

Oona returns to her recently-deceased mother’s beloved home, a rundown seaside cottage, in order to sort out her belongings and sell the place. But an encounter with a taciturn homeless man named Mani suddenly changes things, and the heroes get a chance to eliminate some of the troubles that burden their lives. Communication between the two introverted characters gradually becomes more relaxed, and Oona and Mani move closer in an entirely natural way. This subdued picture never aims for the melodramatic, instead penetrating to the heart of two withdrawn figures presented in all their vulnerability. While creating and filming the characters, the directors worked in close cooperation with the actors but didn´t show them the finished script. Thus, since the film was shot chronologically, the actors only knew – like the characters they were portraying – about one piece of the story at a time. In this way Burke and Eyal succeeded not only in highlighting the fundamental values of interpersonal relationships, but also in attaining a unique level of energy between heroes who are captured at exceptionally fragile moments in their lives. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)