Blue My Mind

I think, the movie tried to explore the themes: "being yourselves" or "embracing yourselves with all your oddities" or "finding how special you are".

It is an interesting film, but leaves you confused at the end; all because one shot, I think, has gone wrong. The point is, the movie follows a grounded-realistic approach (not a surreal one). So, you expect the movie to give you enough information to build a believable world in which the story takes place. The problem is not with the believability, but with the incomplete information. So, at the end, you are left feeling that there is something missing.

This could have been fixed with the very first shot of the movie, in which it could have shown a new born lying on the beach crying, with no traces of any human around her. This would have raised the question, "who left her there?" or "where did she come from?". As these questions were quite satisfactorily answered in the movie, you would've felt that everything fell in place (including the theme). The parents' characters need a little development though.

Sad and lovley... Truly not for the masses. Your average Joe will not like or get this at all.

Brühlmann's story blends the age of innocence with dark fantasy ad her protagonist deals with life changes, body issues and a sense of confusion about the future. Although she tackles a heavy amount of subject material in the film, "Blue My Mind" never goes full out horror, nor does it take itself too seriously. It is a well written, well acted metaphor for transitioning from adolescence to adulthood.

The cast seem far stronger actors than their age, or the film's indie status would suggest. Characters are brought to life conveniencingly and affective. More drama that thrills, there are moments that could have taken the film a bit darker and with a little more horror. Still it wasn't really needed and the film doesn't hurt without, still as a 45 yr old man I could have related more. Or maybe more comfortable considering the material deals with female energies and becoming woman.

The special effects, though limited till the final act, are well produced blends of practical and slight CGI. All kept to a minimalist approach. Most of the film's ability to captivate is done so through brilliant story, cinematography and the human element. Overall "Blue My Mind" is a great dark fantasy drama appealing to fans of Animorph whimsy and coming-of-age drama.

After watching this film, I was very much reminded of that other intense, coming-of-age girlhood drama, Thirteen. Both films feature a young protagonist who, in the midst of trying to navigate adolescence amidst loving but oblivious parents, get sucked into the depravities of underage drinking, substance abuse, promiscuity, self-harm and the like. The scenes of Mia trying to find an in with the cool crowd is immediately familiar to Thirteen's Tracy trying to cozy up to the wild Evie. If the film had a mood board, I could also see the similarly named Fish Tank (maybe even Pixar's latest, Turning Red, could be the Disney-fied version of this story), or the French film Water Lilies, as inspirations.

As a metaphor for the turbulence of the teen years, shape-shifting stories, and mermaids in particular, are a very interesting idea. But not enough is done with it in Blue My Mind. I wanted to know if Mia had prior suspicions about her origins, or if she just started having inklings that she is not like others. We also don't get much insight into some of Mia's decisions other than her being driven by hormones. Some of the plot mechanics were also improbable, notably Mia's parents leaving her at home alone despite worrying changes in her behavior.

I did like how the film avoided falling into some cliches, particularly with the Gianna character who is at first introduced as the sexually precocious "bad influence"-type. Also the cinematography is pretty striking with its palette of blues. Overall, this is definitely a film that leaves an impression on you with its vividly startling imagery. I would have liked it even more had it spent more time developing Mia's thinly sketched parents, or her relationship with Gianna, and gave Mia more of a complex, defiant send-off.

I see this movie as a poetic self-deletion movie. A young girl going through puberty and not able to cope and thus acts out. She's like many teens who don't feel like they belong, even to the point of thinking that they're adopted. The telling sign for me was the knife. I see it as she made the attempt and her friend found her in the tub. Letting her go at the end reminds me of Big Fish. That movie, like this one is double-meaning.