‘I Wanted This Film To Feel Very Fleshy’

Showing in competition at Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival, writer-director Saulė Bliuvaitė’s debut feature “Toxic” is a hard-hitting coming-of-age story. The film follows two 13-year-old girls as they navigate their bodies and identities during a sweltering summer in Lithuania.

Marija (Vesta Matulytė) and Kristina (Ieva Rupeikaitė) form a close friendship as they aspire to join a modeling school. This school promises an escape from their mundane reality.

Bliuvaitė recalls, “When I was 13, it was very popular for very young teenage girls of 12-13 years old to try and enroll in modeling agencies. Girls from the Baltic countries were desirable—pale skin and thin figures. I remember participating in this casting, standing in these long lines in shopping malls. We all looked the same in this girl factory.”

She reflects on her own experience, saying, “I was actually enrolled in a modeling agency. At 14, I was very thin. A lady measured me and started drawing lines on my body, suggesting where I needed to lose weight. I remember my mother’s horrified look, thinking, ‘Where are these big parts?’ It was a harsh experience for a young teenage girl.”

The film, sold by Bendita Film Sales, draws inspiration from the 2011 documentary “Girl Model” by Ashley Sabin and David Redmond, as well as Bliuvaitė’s personal experiences. “Watching that documentary reminded me of the castings I participated in,” she says.

Casting the female leads, Bliuvaitė was mindful about not replicating the conditions she aimed to document. She spent two years meeting numerous girls in low-key casting sessions that evolved into conversations about their experiences, many of which were incorporated into the story. “Once we had potential candidates, we did workshops and acting games, making the casting process enjoyable,” she adds.

Though set in a social realist world, “Toxic” diverges from traditional naturalism. Bliuvaitė explains, “I wanted to move away from the typical coming-of-age teenage film, focusing not just on the characters’ emotions but also on the environment where the story takes place. I included scary elements because, for teenagers, life is like uncharted territory. A lot of things are very scary, and I wanted to give the audience a sense of this horror film vibe.”

One of the most terrifying aspects for teenagers is the changes in their own bodies. Bliuvaitė elaborates, “I wanted to make this film very fleshy because it’s about the flesh—the audience should feel it through the screen. The scenes show deep situations linked to the flesh, like piercing a tongue, touching a body you’ve never touched. It’s awkward and mysterious but also ugly and weird.

“Toxic” is produced by Akis Bado, an independent studio in Vilnius founded by Giedre Burokaritè and Robertas Nevecka. The studio is known for award-winning animated shorts such as “Snow Shelter” (2020) and “Mora Mora” (2021). The film was funded by the Lithuanian Film Center and Lithuanian National Radio and Television and won the Work in Progress Award at Meeting Point Vilnius 2024.

Source: Variety