Let's be realistic.

Dreadfully Boring

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

This movie is plagued with the same problems as virtually most Romanian movies. It tries to be an ultra-realistic depiction of reality, exaggerating (up to an extreme) the social and mindset problems of Romania. It follows the same format as every other Romanian movie released in the last two decades - you know it is a train-wreck, you know that it is going to end up bad and yet, you can't take your eyes away from it.Have you've ever watched a movie just because of nudity? Or because of violence? You know that the movie is crap but yet, something keeps you there. Well, this is what this movies does too. It keeps you not by being shocking but rather, by trying to be a social commentary of the Romanian society and making it so black and white that you can't but watch. You know that it is stupid but you'll keep watching anyway.It is good to watch if you are actually doing something else, as you don't need to pay a lot of attention but generally, I've found it so full of clichés and that I can hardly say this is a quality movie. It is sensationalism, the equivalent of a tabloid in movie format and I'm sorry to say, but I haven't seen any good movie from Romania for way too long.

I only write a review for this because the other review here is unfair, and I'm ticked off by racist slurs like "gypsy criminal music" for Manele, which doesn't appear that much in the film. And there isn't much profanity, don't get your hopes up. My guess is the reviewer was outraged at the "gypsy sweet-talks stupid girl and then dumps her like garbage" plot element. It doesn't really matter though that the guy is a Rom, and there's a more vicious scumbag later in the film who is not of that ethnicity. It's true that this is a very predictable "rebellious teenage girl's descent into hell" story, a genre Romanian film deals with a lot because it works well with film festivals. And indeed, this won best debut feature at the two main Romanian festivals, which means some people think the director might be the next Porumboiu or Puiu. I hope not because of the cliché water symbolism and weak script, but all these new Cinema Verité guys started out with stories like this.In short, this is not a disturbingly misogynist teen girl film like, for instance "WebSiteStory", and not a careful portrait like "American Honey". It's boring standard Romanian realist film festival fare.

The film looks rather ambitious, exploring the sordid dramas of a teenage girl coming from a dysfunctional family. The recurring dream-like motif of water (drowning, flooding, and so on) is but a transparent metaphor for her situation, as she is trapped by the deceits of others and by her own out of control impulses. Acting is sometimes surprisingly realistic, and sometimes awfully rigid. To sum it up, the film depicts in a rather believable way the downfall of a contemporary young girl from the lower class, deprived of any decent feelings or role models. When the movie ends, she is indeed depicted as ripe for the only way out conceivable for her: prostitution.All this is tragic, but now let's see the film's weaker side. Tragedy, like any art form, needs contrast. In this movie we only see promiscuity, violence, cursing, irresponsible behavior, booze, drugs, tramps, rape, and so on. No one offers a helping hand, all the characters are lowlifes, some even criminals, school is non-existent, underage girls dress and behave like tramps. It's all nothing but a degraded, decomposing society obsessed with fame and fortune, which has adopted the talk, the look, the way of life and sometimes the music of gypsy criminals ("manele"), with no alternative of civil behavior or education - which is wildly exaggerated. That world exists indeed, sadly, but not just that. To watch for an entire film just criminals, lowlifes and underage promiscuous girls cursing and fighting (both verbally and physically, in an impulsive, beastly way) is too much and sometimes cringe-worthy. And in the end it's boring.