Palindromes 4K 2004

This is not Solondz's best work, let's say, not the most interesting, although it is complex, with many meanings. Once again, using his favorite elements of outward cynicism (which is actually honesty), scenes that are harsh in terms of morality, and playing on the viewer's perception of his characters' external elements, that is, their thinness, skin color, behavior, religion, and deviations, the director creates a small but terrifying story about the life of a teenager, about the time when he is considered to be most vulnerable, that is, when he is 12-14 years old. The basis for the teenager is a girl who, due to her parents' negligence, became pregnant by her first acquaintance while visiting.

The main idea, which is conveyed throughout the film thanks to a song with only one word, “love,” as well as the behavior of the main character, is the lack of love from her mother. The girl transfers this lack of love to her desire to have a child. Through objectively shocking but dry scenes, that is, without any particular vividness of suffering and emotions, Solondz releases his heroine into the cruel world of modern perversions, whether it be a pedophile truck driver or a Christian family with disabled children, which also has its own vices.

The heroine goes through a strange journey, which is not like a life journey; it is as if she falls into these circumstances. Perhaps this is a characteristic of life. In this regard, it will seem magical on the one hand, and at the same time somewhat straightforward, without smoothness. After going through all her adventures, she returns to her starting point, to her family, where everyone shows that they love her. The heroine does not change, the world does not change, hopes remain.

On the one hand, the film appeals to many women who have gone through the experiences of the film's various characters (essentially one in the guise of several), once again showing the duplicity of the world, the non-obviousness of the obvious, and the absurdity of some seemingly humanistic ideas.

It is a complex film, very deep internally (like Todd Solondz himself), but in the end it leaves no one a chance—neither the main character nor the viewer.