Family Therapy

Salvation for Beginners is a film that disappoints on almost every level. The story is confusing and lacks a clear direction, the characters are shallow and unconvincing, and the dialogues are so forced that they sound like something out of a bad stage play. The direction is uninspired, the film's pacing is awkwardly inconsistent, and the humor mostly falls flat.

Visually, the film doesn't stand out either-static camerawork, dull lighting, and poor editing contribute to an overall tedious atmosphere. The soundtrack is generic and adds no real value. On top of that, the acting performances are mediocre at best, making it hard to recommend this film to anyone.

If it was meant to be a comedy, it lacks wit. If it was supposed to be a drama, it lacks depth. If it was intended as satire, it lacks sharpness. In the end, one question remains: why was this film even made?

If you want your friends and family to question your sanity play them this film and convince them you enjoyed it.

The only positives the film has going for it is the aspect ration of the picture, the good lighting and the scenery. Thats it. The actors did their job I guess as they were told and i cannot find a fault in the acting itself.

But that's where the positives stop.

The film does little to draw the viewer in. And is at best a collection of increasingly bizarre scenes without a coherent story to tie them together.

It even manages to successfully avoid becoming a theatre of the absurd by being just weird rather than contrasting realities we are used to with absurdism it will spew incoherent nonsense at the audience.

One more positive is there is no (human) death or suicide in the film, also no out right depression or alcoholism, and this is refreshing for modern Slovenian film which usually is unwatchable for those reasons.

I truly hope Slovenian film makers wake up one day and realize this is not the kind of film audiences want.

I just don't see the red line of this movie. Maybe i need an extra explanation.

I was waiting and waiting to see how the story is going to develop into something interesting.

Yes, I see that the family is a mess, and that they can't cope with their own problems. But where are solutions?

Father is a dreamer, lost in his own world, as far as I can see, he had a good job where he was making a lot of money, but now he's just sitting at home, doing nothing productive. The wife is also an artist without art actually? So where is the money coming from?

And I also don't see where is the point of redeem.

Total waste of time.

It is probably impossible to watch this film and not be reminded of Parasite (2019), a film so close in themes (class, family, facade, survival, meaning) that it's like they both entered a contest from each country with the same themes and here was another entrant.

The craft in this film is exquisite. Camera, actor performance, set design, sound - all top notch. But that's where it ends - effective set pieces fall apart, themes get muddled, time drags on for no reason. There is something missing here - a strict collaborator, perhaps, asking "why" at critical points in production.

It is clear everyone on cast and crew was 100% committed - Marko Mandic could be the Slovenian Toshiro Mifune, Mitja Licen turns liminal spaces into paradise on screen - and so it's a real letdown about how this deep dive into the stresses of an uptight upper class family are handed to us in a bizarre Prix Fixe menu that turns out to be far, far short of the mark.

I hope at the next big meeting about the next big project from this team, the word "WHY" is on the whiteboard a lot more.