Consequences

This very first LGBT movie made in Slovenia makes for very scary viewing. This debut feature from filmmaker Darko Stante is a brutal twist on a coming out tale that is both compelling and and also shockingly violent.

It’s the tale of Andrej (an exceptionally talented Matej Zemljic) a dispirited teenager who drifts from one troubled scenario to another. When the girl he takes up to a bedroom challenges his impotence as he is unable to satisfy her, he lashes out and beats her up. At his trial in court his mother who has long given up on him encourages the Judge to send him to a center for juvenile criminals.

Once there he is picked on as the new boy by Zele (Timon Sturbej) the self-appointed ‘boss’ of the inmates and an unchallenged bully. However after a rough start Zele is impressed by Andrej’s audacity and starts to include him in his close circle.

Each weekend the boys are allowed a break and most of them filter off to Ljubljana to have as much fun as they can without getting caught. Andrej allows himself to be swept up into some of the petty crime that Zele is involved in as he develops an unspoken crush on his charismatic new friend. So much so, he is willing to undertake any audacious task that Zele asks of him even it means adopting his violent bullying tactics.

He is rewarded after one drink and drug-filled night when Zele encourages Andrej to join a make out session he is having with his girlfriend. When this is repeated later, without the girlfriend included, the closeted Andrej mistakenly assumes that Zele shares his feelings. However everything comes to ahead when both young men realise that this is so not the case.

What encourages them to create the brutality of their environment are having parents who have all but given up on their responsibilities, and the center’s weak-willed management who are too scared to enforce any discipline. Boredom is no excuse for violence but it feeds a culture where the need for self-survival overrides any desires these young men may have had for any level of normalcy.

The broody Andrej struggling to come to terms with his sexuality in such an unwelcoming environment shows his soft side when left to his own devices with his devotion for his pet rat who is the one thing in his life who will not reject him.

Slovenia is one of the more enlightened Balkan countries when it comes to acceptance if the LGBT community so it will be interesting to see if future movies will put a more positive spin on being gay.

Consequences will be playing the Film Festival circuit this year and is so worth looking out for.