Mexican master Guillermo del Toro tweeted his wish to see this Lithuanian wonder that raises sensational sales numbers. Ten festivals on three continents after the premiere in Karlovy Vary, 140,000 tickets sold upon release in France, first place reached among the most watched on VOD in the US in just 2 weeks, the first ever commercially released Lithuanian film in Thailand. And many other countries are waiting.

This unprecedentedly successful dark sci-fi fairy-tale takes us to a dystopian world after the total demolition of Earth’s ecosystem. Several toxic viruses have eradicated almost the entire population. Separated by a primal will to survive, brothers Jonas and Darius are now the fiercest enemies. The greedy pervert Jonas conducts nasty, unethical, bloody and merciless experiments. The critically wounded and bedridden Darius can no longer speak and fully depends on the care given by his rebellious 13-years-old daughter Vesper.
A vital encounter with the mysteriously recreated Camellia inspires the curious girl to use bioengineering skills in a vigorous fight against the unforgiving Sentinels and search for the right path to the Citadel where seeds have been stocked that could give rise to a new civilisation.

The directors, Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper (“Vanishing Waves”), plant seeds of love and hope into our hearts. They wittily leave a few vivid theories unexplained, only hinting at possible interpretations. Ground-breaking special effects (a drone becomes a separate character), the gorgeously elegant animated visuals, the hypnotic musical score and the true magic of Lithuanian art wizards bring us to a futuristic fantasy forest with a budget of just five million euros. To top it off, we see a mesmerising performance by Raffiella Chapman who deserves to be raised among the European Shooting Stars 2023.

Edvinas Pukšta