Saw this at the Rotterdam film festival 2015 (IFFR). In short: Unbalanced and illogical all over. Apparently hoping that the feel-good aspects of the story let us overlook all its faults. Anyway, It did not jerk any of my tears.
The narrative left more than a few uncharted fields, and focused on other things that I deem mere side-ways. Important aspects of the underlying drama are not revealed to us, like why Barbara's past is so scary for Damian, and what her "psychological" issues exactly were (quote from IFFR website) or why she is a "disturbed girl" (quote from IMDb). The magical trick we see in school, in one of the openings scenes, is not enough to connect the dots later on. Similarly unclarified, we see how Damian reacts on Barbara's phone call, but leaving his defiant attitude devoid of any explanation. He seems just scared for unknown reasons. And near the finale, after learning how Barbara and the girl's father met and (!) that he stayed overnight, he freaks out, even to the extent that his attitude towards the father turns 180 degrees, all of that still for reasons unknown.
That the father goes at any length to fulfill his ailing daughter's last wish, may be understandable as this is what parents do. But what we see happening here is certainly over-the-top. He does not even make an attempt to verify whether her wish still exists, as this could have been a short-lived dream from years ago. I admit that I'm trying to be rational here, but I never was a father, so what do I know.
Finally, I am prepared to overlook how very coincidental our three protagonists meet each other. It is convoluted, but it could have happened this way, including the loose piece of the jigsaw puzzle lying on the street. On the other hand, the time devoted to all these side-ways would have been better spent on extra background information on the three. The synopsis on the festival website was a required read, yet insufficient to grasp all of the drama that enfolds in two hours time. We are withheld from being pulled in by the story, and also are being prevented from identifying ourselves with either one of the main characters, not even with the father who would be the obvious candidate for our sympathy.
The narrative left more than a few uncharted fields, and focused on other things that I deem mere side-ways. Important aspects of the underlying drama are not revealed to us, like why Barbara's past is so scary for Damian, and what her "psychological" issues exactly were (quote from IFFR website) or why she is a "disturbed girl" (quote from IMDb). The magical trick we see in school, in one of the openings scenes, is not enough to connect the dots later on. Similarly unclarified, we see how Damian reacts on Barbara's phone call, but leaving his defiant attitude devoid of any explanation. He seems just scared for unknown reasons. And near the finale, after learning how Barbara and the girl's father met and (!) that he stayed overnight, he freaks out, even to the extent that his attitude towards the father turns 180 degrees, all of that still for reasons unknown.
That the father goes at any length to fulfill his ailing daughter's last wish, may be understandable as this is what parents do. But what we see happening here is certainly over-the-top. He does not even make an attempt to verify whether her wish still exists, as this could have been a short-lived dream from years ago. I admit that I'm trying to be rational here, but I never was a father, so what do I know.
Finally, I am prepared to overlook how very coincidental our three protagonists meet each other. It is convoluted, but it could have happened this way, including the loose piece of the jigsaw puzzle lying on the street. On the other hand, the time devoted to all these side-ways would have been better spent on extra background information on the three. The synopsis on the festival website was a required read, yet insufficient to grasp all of the drama that enfolds in two hours time. We are withheld from being pulled in by the story, and also are being prevented from identifying ourselves with either one of the main characters, not even with the father who would be the obvious candidate for our sympathy.