MQFF NOTES: Girls Lost (2015, Dir. Alexandra-Therese Keining)

Gender swap gets a dark, YA makeover in Alexandra-Therese Keining's adaptation of Jessica Schiefauer's novel 'Pojkarna'. Three on-the-outer girls, Kim (Tuva Jagell), Momo (Louise Nyvall) and Bella (Wilma Holmen), grow a plant with magical penis-grafting powers and take on the world as teenage boys.

Sounds like the setup for a whole lot of slapstick hijinks but Keining's intent is a lot more instructional. The journey she takes these three young women on breaks ferociously into a discussion of male entitlement and the structural privilege afforded young boys (played in the film by three uncannily similar male actors, Emrik Ohlander, Alexander Gustavsson and Vilgot Ostwald Westerlund).

Added to this complicated, testosterone-induced confidence boost, Kim's transformation is further complicated in that from the outset he hasn't been in tune with his gender. For him the plant's magical ooze is less a transformation than a confirmation and apparent addiction to his newly righted maleness causes disunity amongst the trio.

Girls Lost doesn't shy away from the stickier aspects of gender and sexual identity. Keining's is a murky film that takes the gritty social themes of Nordic noir and gives them a queer twist. The supernatural element opens the film up to some intriguing high-concept possibilities: Kim's trans* awakening, his love of a local (possibly homo) petty criminal, Momo's attraction to Kim (both as a boy and as a girl), and gender solidarity in general. The film's runtime doesn't give nearly enough space to explore all of this and there are certainly some thematic threads brushed over or left unexploited but overall the treatment is compelling.

Happily, it looks like it's set for a sequel. If only all YA franchises could be this thought provoking.

★★★☆

Trailer:

Girls Lost screened as part of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2016.

You can check out other films from the festival here.