Reflective Encounters

“But what if it’s not alright? Post-Soviet life often deals with recurring contradictions in both its everyday incarnations and in interpersonal relationships, especially for the average person. Nesting securely in the post-Soviet generation’s inner psyche are fears and insecurities inherited by geopolitical structures of the past which always seem to creep up in the most unexpected of places. Lithuanian filmmaker Jorūnė Greičiūtė’s minimalist approach to narrative construction uses a seemingly unremarkable phrase of agreement to further highlight the paradoxes her protagonist Monika lives in.

By only hinting at her background (living in the outskirts of Vilnius), her family (an ever-so demanding mother), and her self-image (neurotic body language and comportment), the film paints a dedicated portrait of a middle-aged woman struggling to start anew. This particular restart may be exemplified by navigating a new romantic relationship but Monika’s feelings of perpetual non-belonging shine through in all her stiff gestures, in all her sideways glances. It’s Alright toys with the unresolvable conflicts between the one’s interior and exterior lives, and is brave enough to complicate the equation by introducing the Other, the potential lover and mate, who could potentially muster up the courage to ask: “But what if...?””

— Savina Petkova