_I Accidentally Wrote a Book_ is about a teenage girl interested in writing, which becomes an outlet in her coming-of-age journey. She faces the challenges of growing up as a girl and processing the absence of her lost mother. She gets mentored by her writer neighbor, an old lady who helps her process her family's story. Through this, we witness their mosaic family, how they fell in love, and how they make connections with others. The focus is heavily on the emotional elements and the subjective perspective of Nina. The story itself is not that rich, which is kinda ironic in a movie about somebody who wants to be a writer. The weakest part was the romance subplot of the girls. Otherwise, the general implementation is really good! They capture the everyday struggles well, the emotional side of longing after an unknown mother, being lost in the world, growing up, and falling in love is displayed wonderfully. The value of the movie lies in the way these topics are portrayed and how the characters experience this. A beautifully sentimental piece.
This is a teen movie with a serious topic and relatable characters that feel real. Finally, we stopped copying the stereotypical American high school life and broke with the awful tradition of disgusting topics, constant swearing and generic dirtbag culture. This isn't a comedy movie. Thankfully. The jokes were just enough to make it lighthearted and real, but without the compulsion of making sex jokes and celebrating vulgarity. The movie portrays a family without a mother whose members, despite these challenges, still love each other. The father is truly caring and compassionate. Nina is a lost but honest and lovable character.
Picture is well done! It has a high key, colorful palette and gets more modest as the movie becomes more serious. The framing and photographic expression enhanced the story, and the on-screen graphics were amazing. These animations gave a unique style for the movie that matched the playful, creative nature, and they were executed perfectly from a motion design standpoint. The visual effects in the intro were superb too.
Acting was generally good, especially the main cast, but the implementation of many minor roles (mostly the young actors) was bad.
- Villõ Demeter does a great job as the protagonist. She had some minor mistakes where her acting felt a bit artificial, but generally she conveyed the character and her expression admirably, especially as the story progresses towards the end.
- László Mátray was superb as the father. He delivered a compassionate, friendly character in a natural way.
- Kati Zsurzs was amazing. Her execution was passionate and the most enjoyable.
- Zita Qian was weak, her character wasn't that important anyway, and her portrayal was empty.
- Hárs Bonca, as the little brother, was plain lifeless.
- Hunor Demeter as the love interest was unnatural, thanks to his forced way of speaking.
This was a breath of fresh air. Compared to the decades of horrible Hungarian movies, especially in the teenage genre, this is an outstanding work. This single fact outshines the mistakes and minor deficiencies. So it comes highly recommended.
