Blue My Mind

There are no shortage of films telling stories about young teens facing changes in life, especially puberty, and even such movies with a "creature feature" twist number more than a few. Among such company, 'Blue my mind' nonetheless stands as a fair competitor.

Yet the problem is that while the concept is solid, and there are some good ideas in the screenplay, the best word I can think of to describe the execution is "incomplete."

Mia (Luna Wedler) is having difficulty fitting into a new school or getting along with her parents, to the point that she wonders if they're actually related. Things start looking up as she befriends a fellow student, Gianna (Zoe Pastelle Holthuizen), a rather rebellious young woman whose "devil may care" lifestyle draws out behavior in Mia that contrasts with the stricter upbringing and expectations she has known. The bulk of 'Blue my mind' is devoted, narratively, to a "coming of age" exploration of who Mia is, or could be, or might want to be. The story is anchored by fine performances from Wedler and Holthuizen, but even so, the way these scenes play out feels a little forced, and inorganic.

At the same time, Mia begins to experience strange new feelings, and see differences in her body, that portend something more transformative on the way. For about 75 of the film's 97 minutes, those troubling curiosities Mia is experiencing - a bizarre new craving, unseemly marks on her skin, acute changes in her toes - are delivered on-screen very piecemeal, with no notable progression per se. Which would be fine, cinematically, if not for the fact that in the last 20 minutes those slow and minor changes abruptly launch forward into being nearly complete. What were odd symptoms suddenly become a jarring transformation, and there's no real flow in the narrative from A to B.

Yet the film is capped off by a surprisingly strong ending. The full realization of Mia's transformation, physically and emotionally, results in some heartfelt moments before the tale comes to a rewarding close.

The great flaw here, though, is that the entire rest of the movie - an uneven coming-of-age story followed by abrupt body horror - does not convincingly flow into the ending. As a result, pleasing as the final scene is in and of itself, we're left feeling a little less than satisfied overall.

I don't dislike 'Blue my mind.' The primary young actors are good, there are good ideas, and I enjoy the ending. It's just not entirely successful in telling the story that it wants to.

Worth watching, I think. Just keep your expectations in check.

After watching this film, I was very much reminded of that other intense, coming-of-age girlhood drama, Thirteen. Both films feature a young protagonist who, in the midst of trying to navigate adolescence amidst loving but oblivious parents, get sucked into the depravities of underage drinking, substance abuse, promiscuity, self-harm and the like. The scenes of Mia trying to find an in with the cool crowd is immediately familiar to Thirteen's Tracy trying to cozy up to the wild Evie. If the film had a mood board, I could also see the similarly named Fish Tank (maybe even Pixar's latest, Turning Red, could be the Disney-fied version of this story), or the French film Water Lilies, as inspirations.

As a metaphor for the turbulence of the teen years, shape-shifting stories, and mermaids in particular, are a very interesting idea. But not enough is done with it in Blue My Mind. I wanted to know if Mia had prior suspicions about her origins, or if she just started having inklings that she is not like others. We also don't get much insight into some of Mia's decisions other than her being driven by hormones. Some of the plot mechanics were also improbable, notably Mia's parents leaving her at home alone despite worrying changes in her behavior.

I did like how the film avoided falling into some cliches, particularly with the Gianna character who is at first introduced as the sexually precocious "bad influence"-type. Also the cinematography is pretty striking with its palette of blues. Overall, this is definitely a film that leaves an impression on you with its vividly startling imagery. I would have liked it even more had it spent more time developing Mia's thinly sketched parents, or her relationship with Gianna, and gave Mia more of a complex, defiant send-off.

I wasn't quite sure how to categorize this film while watching it. As most fairytales go, there are some dark elements. There are hopeful themes, too. Overall this is different enough to be interesting and I found the cinematography in various scenes to be very enchanting.

Sad and lovley... Truly not for the masses. Your average Joe will not like or get this at all.

A puberty tale of a different kind. Interesting premise told excruciating slow. Lots of salacious content to keep a teenage audience interested. The acting was good. But the story could have been told in a short live action film. For the glimmer of a premise and the acting alone I give this film a 6 (fair) out of 10. {Fantasy Drama}