Consequences [Posledice] **** (2018, Matej Zemljic, Timon Sturbej, Gasper Markun) – Classic Movie Review 12,694

The 2018 Slovenian film Consequences is a devastating, desperate, despairing drama, persuasively written and performed, especially by Matej Zemljic, who is brilliant as troubled teen Andrej, and Timon Sturbej, who is monstrously scary as gang leader Zele.

Director Darko Stante’s 2018 Slovenian film Consequences is a devastating, desperate, despairing drama, persuasively written and performed, especially by Matej Zemljic, who is brilliant as as troubled teen Andrej, and Timon Sturbej, who is monstrously scary as gang leader Zele [Zeljko].

Matej Zemljic plays the troubled 18-year-old tearaway Andrej, who sentenced to be sent to a hopeless youth detention centre thanks to his awful, uncaring, selfish excuse for a mother (Rosana Hribar) and weak father (Dejan Spasic) a series of petty crimes. There he has to fight to establish his place within the group of inmates while getting dangerously close to their self-appointed leader Zeljko as he struggles to keep his secret as a repressed homosexual. He finds himself sexually and romantically attracted to the tough and charismatic but demonic Željko, whose own sexuality is ambiguous, sparking major trouble. The teens at the centre can have the weekends off, which is nice but not a very bright idea, as of course they use the time to get into ever more trouble, partying, taking prodigious amounts of alcohol and drugs, and having sex.

Director Darko Stante writes a very strong screenplay. You know it’s only a movie, but you believe every word, every image of it. The personal tragedy is that Andrej has everything going for him, but it is not enough, though in some ways too much. Andrej has a heart of gold somewhere deep down, but that is not going to save him. The more general tragedy is that nobody gives a damn. You know with that title it’s not going to end well.

It is a trail-blazer as the first LGBT-themed film ever made in Slovenia, which is clearly portrayed as a place that needs serious reform in its attitudes and social care. The film is not a good advert for repression or Slovenia, or people in general very much.

The film premiered at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in Canada on 7 September 2018. After festival screenings, it was first released in Slovenia on 10 October 2018.

It runs 95 minutes.

Director: Darko Stante

Production: Temporama, Zwinger Film, NuFrame

Cast: Matej Zemljic, Timon Sturbej, Gasper Markun.

Matej Zemljic was born on 13 September 1995 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,694

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Consequences [Posledice] (2018, Matej Zemljic).

Consequences [Posledice] (2018,Timon Sturbej).