Child's Pose

It's an emotionally complex and mature film, that's for certain. The film juggles thorny themes relating to death, guilt, responsibility, and desperation all while presenting it's characters, particularly the mother, as multi-dimensional people, at times behaving exceptionally selfish or cowardly in lieu of imposing moral circumstances that demand, rather, sacrifice and humility. These aren't necessarily bad people, though. They are exceptionally damaged individuals, mostly because of their relationships with each other. They behave in ways that are self-serving. The mother smothers her son and overlooks what is right in order to keep him in her life at any cost. The son behaves callously toward her attempts at connection and fails to confront his guilt or even acknowledge it, in spite of the horrid repercussions his behavior has on everyone involved. The climax is particularly emotionally scathing. The mother ceases to be a cold, in-control figure and completely disintegrates into desperation, a scene that reveals an unexpected vulnerability to her that is surprising when juxtaposed with the confidence she displays throughout the majority of the first hour. Child's Pose takes scenes of moral conflict like these and milks every bit of misanthropic commentary it can indirectly from the behavior of these characters, who are far from handling their situation gracefully. There is a revelation unearthed by the father of the dead child near the end of the film that strikes a deep chord. He acknowledges that it is both his fault as well as the man-child who killed his son and he is willing to rot in prison for his life in order to achieve 'a kind of justice'. Sobering stuff. From everyone involved, great performances grace the screen, particularly the mother, as we can all agree. Sometimes the abrasive, uncomfortable tone can be a bit overbearing, creating a dislikability that overwhelms the attempt at empathy Child's Pose strives for simultaneously. The emotional climax is undermined a bit, though the performances run full-steam-ahead sob-territory, because of the fact that we aren't necessarily in the corner of the mother and her son; in spite of the fact that we understand their motivations, we can't quite warm up to either due to some blatantly protruding character flaws. But when this film works in spite of it's heavier than necessary tone and likability issue, it is a rousing experience, and it stands as one of the most morally challenging films to come out this year.

It is a story of a tyrannical, overbearing mother Cornelia whose nickname is Controllia. Her only son, while driving recklessly on a highway, accidentally kills a teenager. Cornelia, not doubting that her son is guilty, uses her connections to meddle with police investigation to avoid her son's prosecution. Her motherly love turned her only son into a distorted, spoiled wreck of a human being who desperately tries to get out of his mother's iron grip. The movie is filmed with a hand-help camera which I found extremely annoying combined with necessity to read subtitles. The authors of this movie allow us a glimpse into the modern corrupt Romania, skewed morality of it's upper class. This film is definitely worth seeing.