Drowning Dry is Lithuanian filmmaker Laurynas Bareiša’s sophomore feature that had its world premiere at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival. The film tells the story of two sisters, Ernesta and Juste, who take their families on a holiday weekend getaway to a lakeside cottage. Both sisters are married with children. Ernesta’s husband Lukas is a champion MMA fighter, while her sister Juste is married to Tomas. As the families arrive at the cottage, tensions are evident between the couples.
Bareiša subtly establishes foreboding details that something may go wrong during their vacation. When an unexpected tragedy occurs halfway through involving one of the children, the film changes course dramatically. From this point, it jumps back and forth in time in a fragmented narrative structure.
Through these jumps, Bareiša seeks to examine how the sisters and others process their trauma individually. Memories are shown to be malleable as the same moments are portrayed differently each time.
The film’s title, Drowning Dry, refers to a rare medical condition where near-drowning victims can experience breathing issues later on. This reflects how trauma can resurface later through triggers. Bareiša explores how grief impacts the sisters, and each person moves forward in their own way. While sadness lingers, he suggests survival and rebuilding are possible. With understated performances and atmospheric cinematography, Drowning Dry unravels how memories and identities shift in the wake of loss.
Weaving Memories
The film introduces us to two sister families vacationing together at a lakeside cottage. Ernesta is accompanied by her MMA fighter husband Lukas and their young son Kristupas. She’s joined by her sister Juste, Juste’s husband Tomas, and their daughter Urte.
From the start, cracks are visible below the surface. Lukas has emerged victorious from his latest fight but bears injuries that trouble Ernesta. Tomas’ flashy displays seem aimed to impress, though tension simmers with Juste. As the sisters unpack childhood memories of summers past at the family home, new fault lines emerge between the couples.
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The families settle into their holiday, spending lazy days swimming and relaxing. Yet something ominous hangs in the air. During one swimming outing, a casual moment takes a terrifying turn when Urte is suddenly struggling in the water. Her desperate rescue jolts the peaceful scene. Though she recovers with medical help that night, the trauma lingers over everyone.
This harrowing incident seems to upend the trajectory of their vacation. But just when it appears life may go on, the director pulls the rug out from under us. He fractures the narrative, leaping between moments that don’t seem to align. Snapshots appear from different vantage points, like pieces of a shattered memory puzzle.
Crucial details remain frustratingly out of reach. We’re left to piece together glimpses and observe how each person processes what happened in their own way. As more is revealed, the film explores the ripple effects of tragedy and how people grapple with irrevocable loss.
In weaving this narrative from fragmented recollections, the director immerses us in the experience of grappling with haunting memories and tragedies that can never be forgotten, only carried forward.
Piecing Together Memories
Director Laurynas Bareiša crafts Drowning Dry with a directorial approach that reflects the fragmented nature of trauma and memory. He structures the narrative in a nonlinear fashion, repeating certain scenes from varying perspectives that mirror how recollections can shift each time they surface. This story unfolds like pieces of a shattered photograph that the audience must piece back together.
Rather than relying on exposition, Bareiša invites us to experience the emotions of characters through his compositions. Long takes and subtle zooms focus our inspection on subtle expressions and interactions that reveal new depths on repeat viewings. Recurring locales take on added layers of meaning as more is uncovered.
Cinematography becomes a narrative device in its own right. Shot through a somber, subdued lens with faces often in shadow or averted, environments feel shrouded in unease. Ambient mise-en-scene enhances a mood of stillness, loneliness, and reticence to revisit harrowing memories. Repetition imbues locations with traces of visible yet intangible ghosts from the past.
Emotions continually surface then recede from view as scenes skip between parallel timelines. Pieces of the puzzle never fully snapped into place; we’re left to ruminate on implications. Through fractured structure, Bareiša immerses viewers in the disorientation of processing trauma—doubting perceptions, hunting for understanding that may forever remain elusive. His directing mirrors raw emotional fragmentation more aptly than linear storytelling ever could.
Beneath the Surface
Ernesta lies at the heart of Drowning Dry, experiencing the most profound journey. Her relationship with sister Juste serves as an anchor amid changing tides, but cracks emerge in other facets of her life. As Lukas’ wife, she carries the constant worries his MMA fights demand. His victories stir as much anxiety as pride, and injuries take their toll on Ernesta.
Subtly yet powerfully, Gelmine Glemzaite conveys the layers beneath Ernesta’s composed exterior. In her eyes and posture, we see the weight of suppressed fears gradually intensifying. Simple scenes like examining Lukas’ wounds morph into analytical surveys of their dynamics. Costuming similarly highlights Ernesta’s emotional armor; practically dressing wounds mirrors her role in keeping family afloat.
Paulius Markevičius imbues Lukas with an intense internal conflict that troubles his marriage. Success in the ring stems from harnessing primal instincts, yet bringing that energy home challenges the balance. Scenes depicting his pre-match rituals and post-victory state hint at inner demons impossible to fully conceal. His prowess underscores insecurities driving attempts to overcompensate.
Juste finds stability in her sister bond, but Agnė Kaktaitė plays her quiet vulnerability amid marital strains revealed over time. Her daughter’s near-drowning triggers buried pain. Juste perseveres in masking. Subtle changes in interaction with Tomas and Ernesta expose fissures in Juste’s emotional reserves. Together, these performances immerse us in the dichotomy between characters’ surfaces and deeper psychological complexities.
Reflections of Trauma
Laurynas Bareiša imbues Drowning Dry with resonant thematic layers that gradually emerge through its fragmented narrative. A major thread explores how trauma resurfaces through triggers in nonlinear ways. The shocking near-drowning of Urte and later tragedy cause reverberations that materialize without rhyme or reason.
Repetitions of key scenes from shifting viewpoints mirror this. Memories surface yet morph each time as submerged details float to the surface. Through this structure, the film portrays trauma’s insidious grip and how its remnants resurface even years after the initial wound.
Gender dynamics and masculine attitudes that amplify insecurities are also dissected. Bareiša subtly traces their undercurrent influences leading to the catastrophe. Banal actions catalyze disaster yet symptomize dysfunction festering beneath superficial bonds.
Amid these uncertainties, the unyielding sisterhood of Ernesta and Juste anchors our understanding of their emotional experiences. Their bond survives as identities dissolve, conveying solace found even in deepest sadness. Their memories stabilize, though they individually fracture.
Despite tragedy, Drowning Dry suggests survival and reconstructing purpose are possible. Grief lingers, but snippets reveal persevering and reinventing lives’ direction. Bareiša portrays recovery as an imperfect process of fitful steps forward rather than a clean break from the past. His characters live on, transformed yet not defeated by sadness.
Reflections Under the Surface
Bareiša imbues even mundane details in Drowning Dry with deeper resonance. Chiefly, the lake permeates as an ever-present symbol of trauma lurking barely below calm waters. Its scene of near-drowning establishes this ominous undertone, and its title evokes the condition of resurfacing trauma.
Recurring pop tunes likewise take on a changing tone—from nostalgic routines to harbinger of heartache. Songs act as aural bookmarks, reminders of relationships and emotions in flux. Their repetition with subtly varied context imprints them with accumulation significance.
Imagery reflects fractured perceptions of reality. Shots recurs yet morph, mirroring the malleable nature of memory. Familiar locales emerge transformed through new lenses of understanding. Compositions frame characters in separation rather than unity, emphasizing emotional distances widened by tragedy.
Subtle visual motifs likewise resurface to represent deterioration of bonds. Terracotta sculptures shattered then painstakingly reassembled come to depict pieces of ruptured lives partially reconciled. Fractures remain yet new formations take hold.
Through these aesthetically threaded symbols, Bareiša elevates underlying thematic depth. Surface narratives merely skim trauma’s complexity, but his multilayered imagery immerses us in the profound reverberations of irrevocable loss. Even in tragedy, fragments retain power to piece lives back in revised form.
Reflections Beneath the Surface
In Drowning Dry, Laurynas Bareiša deftly crafts a character-driven drama that observes trauma’s intricate reverberations. Through fragmented chronicles of loss woven from subjective perspectives, he invites us into an intimate survey of emotional aftermath.
Nonlinear glimpses immerse viewers in the raw processing of grief. We share protagonists’ piecemeal attempts to reconstruct shattered identities after unthinkable sorrow. Captivating performances anchored in subtle inner complexities leave lasting impressions of perseverance amid devastation.
Bareiša’s intricate direction mirrors fractured recollections and perceptions shifting over time. Imagery and aesthetic threads winding through intimate atmospheres enhance thematic depth. Meanwhile, a narrative refusing simplification challenges preconceptions around family, relationships, and recovery from tragedy.
Having established a solid foundation in Pilgrims, this film confirms Bareiša’s talent for penetrating human emotions. While stirring reflection, its modest tones avoid despair—affirming survival’s bittersweetness. In excavating ripples from shattering loss, Drowning Dry feels profoundly authentic, assured yet haunting. It lingers with resonance reflective of its characters’ resilience to forge on despite scars that can never fully heal.
The Review
Drowning Dry
Drowning Dry proves a deeply impactful dramatic work from Bareiša. While stirring profound emotion, it avoids despair—affirming life's continuity despite scars that cannot heal. Through understated yet masterfully realized visual and thematic elements, it immerses viewers in the raw processing of grief. Drowning Dry lingers with resonance as a testament to the indomitable human spirit in our capacity to persevere despite life's deepest sorrows.
PROS
- Complex, layered exploration of grief, trauma, and family dynamics
- Haunting performances that convey characters' rich inner lives
- Masterfully crafted nonlinear narrative that mirrors emotional fragmentation
- Atmospheric cinematography and production design enhance thematic depth.
CONS
- Fragmented structure risks obscuring plot points for some viewers.
- Minimal emotional examination of characters limits empathetic connections.
- Some may find the bleak subject matter a difficult watch at times.
