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The winner of Best Short Film at both Toronto and Venice is a subtly menacing, Mongolia-set tale of sexual awakening.
Teenagers Devka and Anuka have an innocent flirtation. As they walk home from school to their dilapidated Soviet-era apartment block in Ulaanbaatar, their chats about transgressive manga court the risqué before dissolving into awkward giggles. But following a confusing encounter with a mysterious older woman, Devka’s burgeoning sexuality starts to take a darker turn.
Mongolian director Lkhagvadulam (Dulmaa) Purev-Ochir captures the ease with which naivety can be corrupted, hinting at how early erotic experiences can pervert the trajectory of adult appetites. Turbulent emotions thrum just below the naturalistic surface of this nuanced study of masculinity, desire and power, building an unbearable yet ambiguous sense of foreboding that doesn’t relent.
