Slovenian co-writer/director Urska Djukic’s debut feature, Little Trouble Girls, is a coming-of-age story set among Catholic school girls. Jara Sofija Ostan plays Lucija, a shy, unassuming sixteen-year-old who joins the school choir. She soon becomes infatuated with precocious and sexually enlightened Ana-Marija (Mina Svajger). As with all teens exploring their sexuality, Lucija’s curiosity towards Ana-Marija is potent. Often, she finds herself lost in a trance, musing on all the tactile pleasures which could be had if only her fantasies were real.
When the choir journeys to a convent to prepare for a performance, the girls’ bond continues to flourish, as Lucija seeks opportunities to flirt with her partner in desire, even spying on Ana-Marija as she dresses and attempting to steal a kiss from her as she sleeps. But as time wears on, the girls also become curious about the young man working on repairs at the convent. Lucija’s attention drifts to him, whom she finds intriguing and handsome. Pressed by Lucija’s peers, she robs him of an article of his clothing, only to return it later in a moment of secluded intimacy and brooding sexual tension.
Lucija panics, and as with all the sensually related woes in her life, Lucija flees to the solace of self-love, as emotions and circumstances intensify. Lucija suffers from her own wants and the competitive and ostracizing nature of her push-pull relationship with Ana-Marija. Add to that the pressure from an abusive, perfectionist Choirmaster (Sasa Tabakovic), and Lucija is forced to push herself, her fears, and her illusions aside as she navigates the pitfalls of growing into the world we see and the one, unspoken, that exists beneath that.
(l to r) Jara Sofija Ostan as Lucia and Mina Svajger as Ana-Maria in a scene from Urška Djukić’s Little Trouble Girls
” …Lucija becomes infatuated with sexually enlightened Ana-Marija…”
Little Trouble Girls hits like a modern-day take on Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock meets John Duigan’s Sirens. It depicts the flowering of womanhood rioting beneath the ritualistic fear and oppression of religious conventions, colored by proprietorial and adolescent anxieties. Told with economy and artistry, the narrative moves with the speed of a sun-kissed daydream. The images feel hallucinatory rather than tangible, thanks in large part to the exquisite choral soundscape that adorns the film sumptuously, while the pictures drink in the mood and the textures of the players.
This movie is a resoundingly accurate depiction of what it’s like to navigate the complicated nature of coming to know our fellow humans in all their contradictions. Lucija hangs around the fringes of the group, constantly observing, wishing to find the key to acceptance and inclusion. It is a journey we have all undergone, seeking the right way to present ourselves, to be welcomed, and not be seen as some freak to be spurned.
Little Trouble Girls succeeds as a combination of poetic visual compositions and vibrant, dynamic performances from the female leads. Djukic presents a stylishly rendered remembrance of the brief but impactful flair of our youth. She captures how, at the time, it seems all-encompassing, yet once the trials have been passed through, we now only know the significance of the moments once they become confined to memory.
"…moves with the speed of a sun-kissed daydream."
