Seses

When rating movies I usually have two ratings - one for mainstream and one for artsy / Lithuanian movies. It's kinda sad that Lithuanian cinema still hasn't produced anything that would impress me or I wouldn't leave cinema theater without a thought "ok, this was good... for a Lithuanian movie". And this is exactly the case - it's ok for a Lithuanian movie.

From the script / directing point of view I was annoyed at the start - extremely long, very static scenes that are often associated with classic / old Lithuanian cinema. But after a while I got kinda used to that and thought "if this was the art style for decades, maybe this is / should be the signature of Lithuanian movies?". Similar genre Japanese counterparts are also tend to be this slow, but it's not immediately a bad sign. In this case the slowness did convey the mood pretty well. Oh yeah, I slightly got lost in details, so the script may have been a bit more forgiving (but probably that's my problem).

Regarding the characters - character development was not that evident, yet I kind of understand that this may have been done in order to convey the ephemeral mood. At least there was no theatrical overacting / weird & unnatural dialogs - this ruins Lithuanian movies way too often. So no criticism regarding the cast.

Regaring the techical details - I kinda was bummed seeing so much chromatic abberation in the movie. At first I thought maybe this was a cinema hardware bug, but... probably it was just left during the post-process (should have been removed in my oppinion).

Nevertheless, despite all the mentioned shortcomings, the movie did convey the mood very well - I may have recognized similar situations from my life at some point and left the cinema with an uneasy feeling. This type of movie is not my cup of tea (to say the least), but I do believe that the director (as well as all other cast members) has achieved their goal.

"Seses" (Drowning Dry) feels like a perfect example of everything wrong with Lithuanian cinema today. Once again, we're subjected to endless, pointless shots of people doing nothing-unloading groceries from a car back and forth, lying in bed, scrolling through their phones, and doing headstands for an eternity. This isn't artistic; it's lazy. The first half of this film is so mind-numbingly slow that I found myself checking the time more often than following the story - if there even was one.

Sure, the film tries to touch on real-life issues, but by the time those moments appear, it's hard to care. The pacing kills any potential it had. The acting, especially with the child actors, is clumsy - characters talk over each other in scenes that clearly weren't reshot. Were these seriously the best takes? It feels like no one bothered to try again, hoping the slow, 'artsy' atmosphere would cover up the lack of effort. But it doesn't.

The second half does improve slightly, but that's not saying much. Something actually happens then. If this is the direction Lithuanian cinema is still heading-prioritizing empty, indulgent shots over meaningful storytelling - it's no wonder audiences are left disengaged.

The movie was long, boring and about nothing. Most of the time it was showing people just chilling and doing regular everyday things.

A lot of random scenes such as a man lying in bed scrolling his phone for about 5 minutes.

The relationship between the sisters and all of the family members was weird and very cold. Very little communication happening, which does not match a realistic family relationship.

Another observation about the viewers age is 13+ and then one of the first scenes shows a full on naked man with his penis out. Felt awkard seeing young girls watching this movie in the same theatre.

When you look back and think of it, story was good and promising. Actors, specially leading actresses (sisters) also did a good job. However, following storyline was too struggling, as shots were put very randomly, it was a chaos. The concept of time-jumping is good, and maybe challenging to produce, and was a good idea for such story, but it was done poorly. Also, i got angry watching the movie because of in-proportionally prolonged scenes that were "empty" anyways. I feel like no thought on how frustrated viewer will be awkwardly watching such empty shots that feel like forever. Also, i missed attention being paid to the dynamics of separate relationships, as there were almost none 1:1 interactions. I feel like this is a missed opportunity.

The slow pace and non linear timeline and reserved but thoughtful camerawork makes this a masterpiece of European cinematography. The viewer is just as a quiet observer who is connected to the story through thoughtful choice of camera angles and brilliantly natural acting. It seems that the director purposefully omits every cinematic vehicle designed to deliver particular emotion or particular reaction. You are left to observe and interpret it all yourself. Even close ups are left out in some places to allow you to remain an observer. A lot is left unsaid and there is plenty of air to let the viewer think and feel the atmosphere the characters are in. The dialogues are uncomplicated and natural. I am well aware that this may not be everyone's cup of tea but for me it's a masterpiece of simplicity, written, directed, acted and edited exceptionally well.