Greta Grinevičiūte, Kęstutis Cicėnas
Marija Kavtaradze’s follow-up to her 2018 debut Summer Survivors, the Sundance award-winning Slow is a sensitive but light-hearted study of complicated intimacy, shot in natural light and on grainy stock that brings you fully into the world of her protagonists, dancer Elena (Greta Grineviciute) and sign language interpreter Dovydas (Kestutis Cicenas).
When Elena and Dovydas meet, they’re immediately drawn to each other and quickly begin a romance. But Elena is a very sensual, physical person, and Dovydas is not. Struggling to find common ground in their approaches to sex, they realise they will have to experiment to try and create something new that works for them both.
Slow benefits tremendously from the easy charm of Grineviciute and Cicenas’ performances; they have a tangible chemistry that interestingly complicates our sense of their disparate sexualities and ensures we’re wholly invested in the success of their relationship. Touching and tender, with a lightness of touch that belies its thoughtfulness, Slow is an eloquent, exciting love story that cements Kavtaradze as a filmmaking voice to watch.
“A supremely confident piece of filmmaking that negotiates the tricky terrain of non-typical sexualities” Screen International