Bejbi blues

Bejbi blues mimics the memories of a teenage mother in Poland in the days as she deals with her challenges from her boyfriend, mother, and her youth itself. It's the sophomore feature of Katarzyna Roslaniec, who is very much an up-and-coming director. For added realism, Roslaniec cast fresh faces, many of whom were never trained as actors, but who grew up in the environment depicted.

Visually, the film is strikingly colourful and saturated, with authentic grittiness added. The film, almost done documentary-style, has some jarring musical and visual cuts. Those cuts are meant to represent the unreliability of the narrator Natalia, but unfortunately also make the viewer keenly aware they're watching a movie. But apart from a few pacing issues, the film is very engaging.

Ultimately, the film's plot and characters follow a sad and horrifying progression as it appears every bad decision any character is faced with, they make it. The film's dark twists culminate at the end, which manages to be both shockingly abrupt and oddly unsatisfying.

It's worth watching to learn about the problems and struggles found in Poland's youth, but unfortunately it does not have much of a message about those struggles and is ultimately a mediocre script. 6 stars.