Sonja
Picture This
First time writer/director Kirsi Liimatainen takes an unflinching look at the pangs of adolescence in this sad but gentle coming-of-age tale. The title character is a 15-year-old girl, seemingly precocious - she is airily dismissive of her boyfriend and mother - who in truth is slowly coming to grips with her own sexuality and in particular, her feelings for her best friend, Julia. There's not much story here, just a portrait of teen loneliness and the subtle but gradually mounting tension that comes from everything unsaid between Sonja and Julia. Liimatainen captures their moments with understated grace, letting her wonderful young actresses show Sonja's muted longing and undirected anger, and Julia's unintentionally cruel ability to pretend she doesn't understand what Sonja is feeling. The scenes with Sonja's family are a bit overdone in comparison, full of teen brattiness and oddly moody adults; but then, the teen years are when the world seems unfair and parents despotic. Sonja's tone reflects its main character's mood, and its emotional honesty and kitchen sink naturalism - don't expect any forced John Hughes moments or a big dramatic finale - are slightly mournful but satisfyingly real.