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The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Toxic review – stylishly blank look at fashion's real victims
Lithuanian first-time director Saule Bliuvaite makes a real impression with this impressively acted and elegantly composed feature set in the tough suburbs of Kaunas where teen girls dream of escape through an international modelling career. Bliuvaite and her cinematographer Vytautas Katkus contrive striking tableaux and ambient setpieces, creating an emotional context for this drama: a world of alienation and desperate need, but also resilient humour. It's a disturbing essay in sexuality, poverty and sexual capital which reminded me a little of Ninja Thyberg's Pleasure and Isabella Eklöf's Holiday in its candid, affectless evocation of the young female body, and its vulnerability to weight-loss exploitation. Bliuvaite's style reminded me of the Austrians Ulrich Seidl and Jessica Hausner – the latter was incidentally president of the jury which gave this film top prize at last year's Locarno film festival. Newcomer Vesta Matulyte plays Marija, a shy girl who walks with a slight limp due to a disability; she has to live with her grandma while her mum fixes her relationship problems. After being bullied at her new school, she stands up to and finally befriends a girl who had tried to steal her jeans in the swimming pool changing room. This is Kristina (Ieva Rupeikaite), and together these two respond to an ad for a 'modelling school' audition which promises to send winning applicants on fashion trips to the far east and the US. However they must pay upfront for their photoshoots and other unspecified admin costs, and their parents must sign a contract permitting their daughters to work for nothing until the 'debt' is paid off. It is clearly abusive and exploitative on some level, with the penniless girls having to resort secretly to obvious measures to pay these initial fees; yet it may not be any more of a scam than the rest of the supposedly legitimate 'modelling recruitment' business. There are bleak, mordant touches in the reportage camerawork; we are often placed in longshot in relation to the action, or sometimes directly overhead, so that we can savour this blank context. Marija wears a Marilyn Manson T-shirt (the director leaves it up to us to ponder that celebrity's current associations) and Kristina's amiable dad Sarunas (Giedrius Savickas) – who is poignantly prepared to help his daughter get out of this gloomy place by any means necessary – wears a 'Queen Elizabeth II Rest In Peace' T-shirt: a very surreal touch. The truth is Marija and Kristina are hardly more than children, and to witness Kristina get a tongue piercing or swallow a tapeworm parasite for weight loss (cheaper than Ozempic) is to witness some terrible harm or self-harm. Periodically, Bliuvaite will show us the young women practising the catwalk slouch around the grim scrubland, sashaying 10 or 20 paces forward, halting with a hip-jut, swivelling and sashaying back – a stylised choreography of coercion and unhappiness. It's a very stylish piece of work. Toxic is on Mubi from 25 July.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Laval police seek 14-year-old girl missing since July 9
Police in Laval, Que., are looking for a teen who was last seen on July 9. Elisa Matondo Jose, 14, left her home that day and has not been seen since. Her loved ones fear for her safety. She gets around on foot and using public transport. She could be in Montreal. She speaks French, stands five foot seven inches tall and weighs about 130 pounds. She has black hair and a nose ring in her right nostril. She was last seen wearing a black mesh jacket, a black tank top and white shorts. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call 450-662-INFO (4636).
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Teen Refuses to Shave Head for Niece With Cancer. Now His Family Is Calling Him Selfish
A teen turns to Reddit after his family asks him to shave his head to support his young niece with cancer, but he's unsure the gesture matters A teen turns to the Reddit community for advice following a heartbreaking request that leaves him feeling torn between love and personal identity. At just 17 years old, he finds himself facing unexpected pressure from his family after his young niece is diagnosed with leukemia. 'I really really don't want to sound egoistic, but I'm a guy with long hair, which over the years has basically become my personality,' the teen explains in his post. He says that while he's always cared for his niece and her family, he's struggling with the idea of giving up the one thing that brings him confidence and joy. The situation begins when his 7-year-old niece is diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a moment that the teen says 'basically broke their family apart.' Wanting to be supportive, he makes efforts to emotionally be there for his niece and the rest of the family during the difficult time. But things shift when chemotherapy causes his niece's 'beautiful long blonde hair' to fall out, and her family decides to shave her head. 'The next day, a group chat including the entire family was created where my aunt announced it would be wholesome if everyone shaved their hair off as well,' he writes. At first, the teen finds the idea 'wholesome,' but admits he doubts anyone would actually follow through. That changes quickly when he comes home to find both his mother and sister already bald. '[Followed] by my other cousin, and grandma,' he adds. The pressure mounts when his mother confronts him the next morning. 'When are you ready to do it?' she asks, trimmer in hand. The teen is stunned. 'I originally thought it was something to decide on your own,' he says. 'But since everyone else is doing it, I'm kind of being pushed into a corner.' Though he deeply loves his niece, the teen can't ignore how much his hair means to him. 'It's pretty much the only thing about myself I love,' he admits. He also questions how much the gesture really matters to his niece, recalling a video his aunt took of her reaction to other family members shaving their heads. 'She has to tap her maybe 4 times to get her attention, and when she looks, she just stares at it, says 'wow' and continues watching her cartoon,' he writes. After watching that video, he notices his mom becoming 'pushy' about him doing the same. 'In other words, she wants to drag me down into the pit with her,' he says. Things intensify when he receives a text from his aunt urging him to shave his head too. 'She said it would be really nice if I shaved my head as well, in order to show my emotional support,' he writes. But the teen questions whether the act would truly have any impact. 'If we have to keep things real, shaving my head will basically change nothing in the entire situation,' he says. 'But I can't just say no, can I?' He reveals that what stings the most is the lack of acknowledgment shown to the family members who already shaved their heads. 'If my aunt would have shown a little more appreciation to my sister and mom, I would have probably considered it,' he admits. 'But considering she did not even reply to the pictures and just immediately showed them to my niece, as if you HAVE to do it, I don't think I'm willing to do it.' Despite the emotional weight of the decision, the teen reiterates his love for his niece. 'I really really really love my niece,' he writes. 'And even though I'm not that close with her, I always really cared about her and made sure she always felt comfortable with me.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. But the emotional burden is growing, and the teen feels outnumbered. 'I'm almost getting threatened to cut off my hair by three people,' he shares. What troubles him most is the fear of sacrificing something personal only for it to go unrecognized. 'If I do decide to do it, what if no appreciation is shown?' he asks. 'Yes, I would have done it, to show support from my side, but if it's nowhere to be appreciated, then what's the point?' Other Redditors weigh in, including cancer survivors themselves. 'Don't do it,' one commenter writes. 'I never asked, wanted anyone to do that. It made me feel worse.' Another commenter echoes that sentiment. 'As a cancer patient, I never understood this gesture,' they say. 'I also see it as attention seeking behavior.' The teen ends his post not with anger, but with a question that reflects the emotional complexity of his situation. 'But really, what do I do?' he asks. 'I seriously really don't know.' Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Laval police seek 14-year-old girl missing since July 9
Social Sharing Police in Laval, Que., are looking for a teen who was last seen on July 9. Elisa Matondo Jose, 14, left her home that day and has not been seen since. Her loved ones fear for her safety. She gets around on foot and using public transport. She could be in Montreal. She speaks French, stands five foot seven inches tall and weighs about 130 pounds. She has black hair and a nose ring in her right nostril. She was last seen wearing a black mesh jacket, a black tank top and white shorts. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call 450-662-INFO (4636).
CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
St. Cloud police seek public's help finding missing 13-year-old girl
Police in St. Cloud, Minnesota, are asking for help in locating a missing 13-year-old girl who was last seen on Friday. Lierra Lanea Andrews was last seen on foot around 7:30 p.m. on the 100 block of Fourth Avenue South in downtown St. Cloud, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Andrews is 5 feet tall, weighs 100 pounds and has long curly black hair and brown eyes, according to the BCA. She was last seen wearing a red sweatshirt and jean shorts. Officials say Andrews often visits the Lake George area of St. Cloud. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the St. Cloud Police Department or 911.
