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It feels churlish to complain about the queer coming of age drama, especially when such films originate from countries that are particularly hostile towards LGBTQ<\/span>+ people. Often conflated with the coming out drama, us queer cinephiles know their narrative beats off by heart and it\u2019s sometimes hard to suppress an eye-roll. Little Trouble Girls<\/i>, a\u00a0debut by Slovenian director Ur\u0161ka Djuki\u0107 which takes its title from a\u00a0Sonic Youth song, certainly doesn\u2019t boast a\u00a0strikingly original set-up. Lucija (Jara Sofija Ostan) is a\u00a0shy, virginal 16<\/span>-year-old with a\u00a0severe fringe who\u2019s yet to start her period. She\u2019s irrepressibly drawn to Ana-Marija (Mina \u0160vajger), a\u00a0popular, vivacious fellow member of the choir at their strict Catholic girls\u2019 school. Cue sneaky sideways glances in sun-dappled gardens and fingertips brushing against each other while passing hymn sheets.<\/p>\n But stripped back, affecting performances from two newcomers and arresting cinematography make this a\u00a0tactile, tender portrayal of doomed first love. Religious reverence and female sexuality are presented as intertwined transcendent experiences: \u200b\u201c<\/span>God\u2019s touch spills over your body,\u201d a\u00a0nun tells the transfixed girls. Djuki\u0107 presents her mission statement plainly from the film\u2019s opening, laying the sound of pulsing, feminine sighs over a\u00a0yonic medieval illustration of Christ\u2019s wound. Those sighs are revealed to be the vocal warmups of a\u00a0choir rehearsal where Lucija is fatefully placed next to rebellious Ana-Marija. Their chemistry is electric; Lucija is cautiously entranced by this luminous being, while Ana-Marija seems determined to break down her introverted new friend\u2019s defences.<\/p>\n Tensions simmer as a\u00a0weekend school trip to a\u00a0convent in early summer has hormones running wild. Hyper masculine, distinctly adult sexuality invades this most feminine of spaces via workmen whose sweat glistens under the hot sun, while in the dormitory Ana-Marija dares Lucija to \u200b\u201c<\/span>passionately kiss the most beautiful girl in the convent\u201d. She chooses a\u00a0white marble statue of the Virgin Mary and Ana-Marija looks on in quiet awe, or maybe envy. A\u00a0worse version of this story would have Lucija\u2019s attraction to her Queen Bee schoolmate be unrequited, but Djuki\u0107 chooses a\u00a0less obvious and more interesting path.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a\u00a0painterly precision to the cinematography, with certain tableaux evoking Picnic at Hanging Rock<\/i> (1975<\/span>)\u2019s woozy, languid eroticism. A\u00a0boxy 3<\/span>:2<\/span> aspect ratio simultaneously lends a\u00a0sense of confinement and intimacy, and tight close ups of hands, lips and open flowers, though somewhat trite signifiers of lesbian lust, are potent here. This is profoundly sensuous cinema; the only music is choral singing and the soundtrack is alive with whispers, sighs and the chirping of crickets.<\/p>\n This might all be a\u00a0little bit earnest for some, too understated and maybe too chaste. But Little Trouble Girls<\/i>\u2019 muted conclusion feels authentic rather than insipid, truthful rather than excessively cruel. Grounded by compelling performances by its two leads, it\u2019s a\u00a0sexually charged but touching story of adolescent desire in all its dirtiness and divinity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nGet more Little White\u00a0Lies<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n