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Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival · 2021

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2021

Discovery Showcase

Programme

5 films · 4 reviews

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Lamb

A childless couple, María and Ingvar discover a mysterious newborn on their farm in Iceland. The unexpected prospect of family life brings them much joy, before ultimately destroying them.

(Country: Iceland, Sweden, Poland; Year: 2021; Director: Valdimar Jóhannsson; Writer: Valdimar Jóhannsson, Sjón; Stars: Noomi Rapace, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Hilmir Snær Guðnason)

Playground (Un Monde)

Review preview for Playground

This is the playground as a warzone, where the sandpit might, indeed, be as deep as the sea and hold dead bodies and where adult authority might only make things worse.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A little girl faces a moral dilemma after she sees her brother being bullied.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Laura Wandel; Writer: Laura Wandel; Stars: Maya Vanderbeque, Günter Duret, Lena Girard Voss, Laura Verlinden, Karim Leklou)

Full review See: Playground politics: Laura Wandel on bullying and working with children on her first feature

Pleasure

Review preview for Pleasure

Everything has been meticulously researched from the garish costumes and outlandish make-up to the mechanics of the business.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
A 20-year-old woman moves from her small town in Sweden to LA for a shot at a career in the adult film industry.

(Country: Sweden, Netherlands, France; Year: 2021; Director: Ninja Thyberg; Writer: Ninja Thyberg; Stars: Sofia Kappel, Revika Anne Reustle, Evelyn Claire, Chris Cock, Dana DeArmond, Kendra Spade)

Full review

Promising Young Woman

Review preview for Promising Young Woman

Fennell explores the lasting effects of traumatic events with care, never making light of the situation even amid moments of comedy.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Everyone said Cassie was a promising young woman... until something abruptly derailed her future. Nothing in Cassie’s life is as it appears: she’s smart, cunning, and living a double life by night. Now, Cassie has a chance to right the wrongs of the past in this thrilling take on revenge.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Emerald Fennell; Writer: Emerald Fennell; Stars: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Laverne Cox, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Molly Shannon, Angela Zhou, Sam Richardson, Steve Monroe, Alison Brie, Adam Brody, Connie Britton, Alfred Molina, Max Greenfield)

Full review

The Whaler Boy (Kitoboy)

Review preview for The Whaler Boy

All the while, Yuryev keeps us married to Leshka's experience, even flipping us over to view the world in the same topsy-turvy way he does.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A teenager embarks on an unexpected journey after becoming obsessed with an erotic webcam girl.

(Country: Russia, Poland, Belgium; Year: 2020; Director: Philipp Yuryev; Writer: Philipp Yuryev; Stars: Vladimir Onokhov, Kristina Asmus, Vladimir Lyubimtsev, Nikolay Tatato, Arieh Worthalter, Maria Chuprinskaia)

Full review