Written and directed by Marija Kavtaradze, dancer Elena and sign language interpreter Dovydas meet and form a beautiful bond. As they dive into a new relationship, they must navigate how to build their own kind of intimacy. Starring: Greta Grineviciute, Kestutis Cicenas, Pijus Ganusauskas, Laima Akstinaite, Vaiva Zymante, Mantas Barvicius and Rimante Valiukaite.
The landscape of relationships in today’s world can be simultaneously more simplistic and more complex, from the widening spectrum of sexuality to dating apps providing an outlet to feed basic desire. One of those is a lot more interesting to explore than the other and thankfully, Marija Kavtaradze chose the complicated nature of a strong connection between two people who have opposing views of relationships. It’s an interesting concept which delves into the idea of intimacy itself and its many different forms.
However, with the style and tone of the film being so rooted in sexual tension, it falls prey to the deep frustrations of the characters. It bleeds into the entire energy of Slow which then makes the pacing feel repetitive, and as though it’s going in circles, while expecting a different result rather than truly exploring the emotional issues at play. There are also a lot of unnecessary tangents, particularly moments of dance which unfortunately don’t have much to add and slow things down even further.
It’s a shame as the chemistry and connection between Greta Grineviciute’s Elena and Kestutis Cicenas’s Dovydas is exceptional. It’s extremely natural and initially has such a great flow to it, but they get stuck in the same cycle of events. The opportunity isn’t really taken to expand their personalities, to give these actors space to add to their charm, leaving them sadly a little bland, through no real fault of Grineviciute or Cicenas. Especially as the writing can push the characters to lean too far into their youth, occasionally coming across as quite childish.
Slow is a very relevant and interesting concept, shot with a nostalgic, romantic lens but the story and pacing let it down. The intentions are absolutely there but there isn’t enough progression or deeper exploration to live up to its potential. It creates a frustrating atmosphere which gradually permeates further through the film, making for unsatisfying viewing. While the performances are great, they simply can’t push past the limitations of these characters to bring a larger energy or personality to the film.
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