Reflective Encounters

“Anastazja Naumenko’s film displays some wonderfully tender storytelling. Shots are allowed the space and time to linger (most effective in a fantastically drawn-out moment of jam sliding down a slice of toast). In these brief moments, we feel the character’s painfully slow pace of life. It’s an existence which feels constantly exposed and observed. Wide-open spaces like airports express an anxious feeling of exposure. None of this would be possible without a truly attentive soundtrack, giving a sense of uncomfortable realism to these stylised environments. It’s a sound design which also allows us entry to the character’s emotional world: a person hyper-fixated on the small details of life.

The use of digital aesthetics resembles the experiments of early CG animators like James Duesing. Like Naumenko, these directors fully embraced the texture-less, geometric qualities of computer-generated imagery. Beyond its appeal, the visual design serves to explore the character’s fracturing identity. As their reality unravels through daydreams their body itself begins to fragment. This leads to a touchingly strange final image that uses experimental techniques to find the fragility of this family unit. These are people who feel more inflated than solid, balloon-like in their sounds and movements.”

— Chris Childs