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Saulė Bliuvaitė

Toxic (Akiplėša)

Director Saulė Bliuvaitė Composer Gediminas Jakubka Cast Ieva Rupeikaitė, Vesta Matulytė, Giedrius Savickas
99' - 2024 - Drama, Youth / Coming-Of-Age - Format: DCP - Dialogue: Lithuanian
In a godforsaken place somewhere in Lithuania, two teenage girls hope to escape their miserable fate through a shady modeling agency, before their rotten dream eats them from the inside out. With her hard-hitting first feature and Golden Leopard-winner Toxic, Saulė Bliuvaitė shows how friendship can flourish even in the most poisonous of circumstances.

Lithuanian cinema made a striking impact at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, claiming not only four major awards - including the prestigious Golden Leopard and the prize for best debut - but also leaving a lasting emotional mark. Toxic, the fearless film behind these accolades, follows 13-year-old Marija and Kristina as they spiral into financial and moral debt while attending a shady modeling school. The promise of a better life, far from their bleak industrial hometown, inflates like a balloon filled with slow, creeping poison.
Director-screenwriter Saulė Bliuvaitė based the film on the true stories of young models, drawing from her own experiences as a teenager chasing the dream. Often described as the Baltic response to Harmony Korine (Gummo) and Lukas Moodysson (Fucking Åmål), Bliuvaitė finds beauty in even the harshest, most concrete-filled settings. Her sharp, angular visuals capture how her protagonists are pushed to extremes - cornered, trapped, and drifting into emptiness. Toxic is a raw and visually striking debut that heralds a bold new voice in European cinema.

Image gallery

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Credits

Directors

Saulė Bliuvaitė

Composers

Gediminas Jakubka

Cast

Ieva Rupeikaitė, Vesta Matulytė, Giedrius Savickas

Scenario

Saulė Bliuvaitė

Director of Photography

Vytautas Katkus

Editors

Ignė Narbutaitė

Producers

Giedrė Burokaitė

More info

Dialogue

Lithuanian

Countries of production

Lithuania

Year

2024

Filmography

Saulė Bliuvaitė
Limousine (short, 2021), Toxic (2024)

Technical Specs

Format
DCP