TOXIC (2024, Lithuania)

Will be meeting at the seats outside at the Cineleisure bar at 430pm onwards for a quick coffee and catchup, for the 5pm show. Sometimes if there is interest, some of us also stay behind to discuss the movie. Please buy your own tickets here!

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TOXIC

Date: Sat 19 Jul
Time: 5pm
Venue: The Projector Cineleisure

Singapore Premiere
Dir. Saulė Bliuvaitė
Cast: Ieva Rupeikaitė, Vesta Matulytė, Giedrius Savickas, Vilma Raubaitė, Eglė Gabrėnaitė
2024 | Lithuania | Drama | 99min | Lithuanian with English subtitles | NC16 (Coarse Language & Nudity)

Abandoned by her mother, 13-year-old Maria is forced to live with her grandmother in a bleak industrial town. During a violent clash on the street, Maria meets Kristina, a girl of the same age who is striving to become a fashion model. Trying to get closer to her, Maria enrolls in a mysterious modeling school, where the girls are preparing for the biggest casting event in the region. Her ambiguous relationship with Kristina and the intense, cult-like environment of the modeling school force Maria on a quest to discover her own identity.

Awards: Winner - Golden Leopard, Swatch First Feature Award & Prize of the Ecumenical Jury (2024 Locarno Film Festival); Nominee - European Discovery (2024 European Film Awards)

Programmer's Note: With strong echoes of Ulrich Seidl and Andrea Arnold, TOXIC explores the body-violating world of exploitative modelling as Lithuanian working-class female teens hope to seek better opportunities for themselves. Some might call it peer pressure, but I think it is the sheer desperation to thrive and try. Little do they know that the world outside is infinitely more toxic, crass and ruthless. This is a socially confronting feature debut that still manages to offer some glimmer of hope that never fades away. (Eternality Tan, Vice-Chair & Programming Director)