Written and directed by Laurynas Bareisa, sisters Ernesta and Justė, along with their husbands Lukas and Tomas, gather at their parents’ summer house with their children but the weekend soon unravels. Thrusting both families into a radically altered reality where time is limited and emotional issues must be solved amidst growing heartache. Starring: Gelminė Glemžaitė, Agnė Kaktaitė, Giedrius Kiela, Paulius Markevičius, Olivija Eva Viliūnė and Herkus Sarapas.
Laurynas Bareisa takes on a lot of very interesting and very relevant themes with Drowning Dry. Particularly diving into problematic masculinity, envy, jealousy, competitiveness, immaturity, vanity, perception and marriage. There are the beginnings of fantastic ideas to do these topics justice and provide a striking portrayal of their consequences, but they never make it to the finish line. The undoubtedly divisive element to Drowning Dry is its creative choices with the timeline of the story, it practically takes the concept of non-linear and throws it in a blender. Creating something that’s unusual and interesting but ultimately, not very effective.
The result feels as though it almost entirely undermines its own story and doesn’t give the emotions room to develop. The transitions between past and present are jarring and blunted, intentionally so, but it’s not the smoothest viewing experience. Added to the slow moving nature of Drowning Dry and how, for the most part, Bareisa likes to focus on the in between moments rather than the key events, it can be unsatisfying to watch. It’s a shame as again, it has some great ideas and there’s some strong uses of foreshadowing and the differences between individuals’ perceptions of events but it’s preventing itself from building into something sharp and powerful.
It’s also a shame because the many other elements to Drowning Dry are strong work. Especially visually, the cinematography holds a wonderful weight to it, the softness of the palette nicely reflects a contemplative atmosphere. It’s providing the space for so much emotional complexity, but we never truly see that. Bareisa’s direction follows that using a lot of stillness and intimacy, keeping things within the everyday but adding a touch more depth. It perfectly matches the compelling potential to the story, but it simply can’t reach the heights that it wants to without the progression to match.
The performances then take that further, the core quartet all have a terrific way of being understated yet having a lot to say. A factor which is portrayed most strongly in their connections with each other, between the sisters and then between them and their husbands. It does genuinely feel like a family unit, no one actor stands out. Although, much like with the story, it does feel like there was room to grow, to push the emotions and conflicts further.
Drowning Dry makes some risky decisions in its storytelling which don’t pay off. There’s an excellent foundation for a moving, complicated story about family and friendship, particularly from a male perspective but it undercuts itself. The purposefully fractured timeline doesn’t allow the film to build its emotions and impact, cutting its potential off at the knees. It’s a shame because the direction, cinematography and performances are all great, and there are some really interesting choices being made but overall, it’s a fairly unsatisfying watch.
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