L'inganno

(2016) Delusion/ Pretender/ Teesklejad (In Estonian with English subtitles) PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA/ THRILLER

The two words best to describe this movie is "long" and "ambiguous", it stars a young couple, Juhan (Priit Võigemast) and Anna (Mirtel Pohla) driving to their friends big house, that is somewhere near the beach since the owners allowed them to stay their. And as we learn more about them, Juhan is going to be laid off from journalism. We get more scenes of them laying around the owner's pool before going to the beach. They would then bicker some more as soon as they spot a couple of kids going through their things at the beach while they were at the ocean water. And by the time the kids had left, both Juhan and Anna then go back to the beach arguing some more before seeing someone who had cut herself while she was at the rocks. Leading the new couple of Erik (Meelis Rämmeld) and Trin (Mari Abel) into their friends place for the intention of getting Trin's foot bandaged up. And for the rest of the hour, we find out that both Erik and Trin's lives are no more better than Anna and Juhan's.

At this point, the question of Anna and Juhan meeting Erik and Trin ever existed or was it a figment of their imagination is as ambiguous as it can come. I'd like this movie more had it been shorter since for a running time of an hour and 42 minutes is way too long for a movie of this statue.

Out of all the Estonian films, this has got to be the worst. Best way to summarize it would be to quote the last lines to the movie "nothing happened". Unbareably slowly progressing storyline that disects subjects nobody cares about. Seriously, pull the curtains and watch the snow fall for a greatly superior visual and cognitive stimulation. Just adds to the stereotype of Estonians being slow

It is a subtle 'between the lines' drama about couple relationships, but its pace is like that of a thriller or horror movie. Not too slow, not too fast. Eye candy locations. Beautiful main actress. The acting is good. People actions are believable. Soundtrack adds a spice to all of that. If your mood is right, it is a very good watch.

Not-so-young couples with personal issues, getting together under extreme circumstances, pretending to be someone else, frequent misunderstandings, new deductions based on the events happened - do they ring a bell? About dozen films? Or hundreds? Anyhow, Teesklejad has no novelty, no real thrill, and the acting level of the couples is too different (Võigemast-Pohla excel Rämmeld-Abel to a great extent).

There are some beautiful interior and nature scenes, but, in general, this film has little to give to dedicate more than 1.5 hours of your valuable time. Unless you are fond of pretentiousness and course of events with limited antagonism. And trust me, there are far more dynamic Estonian films, particularly this millennium.

This Estonian psychological thriller may be a bit unusual, but it's also quite intriguing. It has a very slow pace, and with that gradually builds up the tension, making you more and more uneasy about the intentions of this other couple, as well as about the strange behavior of Anna that so infuriates her husband. It's all very subtle and atmospheric, with scarce dialogues and only a few hints as to the backgrounds of Anna and Juhan. But it worked, at least for me.

The consistent slow pace is towards the end suddenly caught up by a short outburst of frenzied action, and just when you think that this will lead to a definitive and satisfying climax, the movie ends with a deflative puff. And with the out-of-the-blue suggestive question: did it all really happen? Seriously?! Well, maybe this ending was a tiny bit too pretentious. As for the rest: absolutely worth while, and by the way very well acted by Mirtel Pohla and Priit Võigemast.