14A - Advisories: Sexual Content & Substance Abuse.

The day before a week-long trip to her family’s homeland of Modra, Slovakia, Lina’s boyfriend breaks up with her. On a whim, she invites handsome schoolmate Leco instead, despite the fact that they hardly know each other. Naturally, Lina’s family assumes that she and Leco are an item, but that pressure, and the strain of being forced together in a foreign country, ensures that there will be nothing straightforward about Lina and Leco’s relationship.

MODRA is personal filmmaking at its best. Filming almost entirely in Slovakia, writer-director Ingrid Veninger used her family extensively in the shooting, from casting her daughter in the lead role to using extended family in supporting parts. Her affection for the people and places around her is present throughout the film, but it doesn’t distract from the core of the story—an emotionally honest portrayal of the uncertainty that comes with being a teenager. The story she creates is as far from a typical Hollywood romance as you can get, and the film is all the better for it.

PH