In a decade—it won’t be more as nothing ever lasts longer—in which offences are read everywhere except where they really are, Girl could have not but ignited an interesting debate. To have raised a fuss like cinema rarely does in our century and aroused the susceptibility of the most conformist souls in different ways, is a film that doesn’t simply delve into the difficulty of accepting oneself, but into the literal impossibility of recognising oneself into a mirror. Girl is about different forms of obsession and the physical synergy their clashing can dangerously lead to.
Lukas Dhont’s surprising debut is a wonderful story of private courage that doesn’t mean to judge or teach. Whoever saw not more than an overly anatomical portrayal of a category, that’s exactly where they proved their incapability to see anything else than that, a category. But Girl takes us beyond all that, and it does with the red eyes of a father, the embrace of a demanding guide, and the breath of a child trying to wake us up. Nothing but the silent power of life.