The first feature film to be helmed by writer-director Saulė Bliuvaitė, Toxic also happens to be the second film this year to show me someone desperate enough to lose weight that they have given serious consideration to making use of a tapeworm. Although this is very different from that other film, especially with the lack of any genre tropes, it's surprising just how close it comes, proving how much of a horror it can be to simply get through life as a woman.
Everything revolves around Marija (Vesta Matulytė) and Kristina (Ieva Rupeikaitė), two girls who start off as enemies, but soon become friends. That friendship seems strange, and fragile, but it's grounded in their common struggle to do well at a local modelling school, as well as their attempt to navigate through some difficult years in life as boys and men keep sniffing around them like hungry dogs waiting to be fed.
There's something to be said for how deftly Bliuvaitė handled the content and tone of Toxic. This could have been so much worse, in terms of discomfort and nastiness, but things are presented in a way that keeps it watchable without ever letting viewers relax. The main characters face dangers from all different directions, including from one another, and Bliuvaitė easily shows that any respite is only ever temporary, which is a factor that helps to motivate these teens to go to more and more extreme lengths in order to facilitate a move far away from somewhere they don't want to be trapped. It's rare to find a completely safe space for women, both externally and internally, and Toxic illustrates this perfectly without wallowing in the kind of pain and abuse that would have made it a very different, and less effective, film.
Both Matulytė and Rupeikaitė are fantastic in the main roles, especially for two relative youngsters making their onscreen acting debuts. Nobody else threatens to steal any scenes or make a disproportionate impact on the narrative, which leaves everything fully resting on the performances of our leads, a task that they handle with ease and naturalism.
There are a number of similar films that I could recommend to people who end up appreciating Toxic, but the interesting thing is that none of them would feel exactly like this. Bliuvaitė takes us through a familiar world while making use of viewpoints that help to focus our vision on elements and threats that are there every single day for women just trying to make their way through life. There's no trickery used, just a slightly different perspective and the feeling of someone pointing out details that are often not noticed by people who aren't affected by them. I'm already keen to see what Bliuvaitė does next, and I highly recommend this to anyone who has the patience and empathy to appreciate it.
8/10
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