Drowning Dry
How do you cope with a traumatic experience? That question is at the heart of this Locarno award-winning Lithuanian drama about two couples, their children and a tragedy.
Together with her sister Juste’s family, Ernesta, her husband Lukas, and her son are spending the weekend at a country house after Lukas’s victory in a mixed martial arts tournament. The families are swimming in a nearby lake, having dinner, discussing family finances. The weekend takes a dark turn when Juste’s daughter falls into the lake, unable to swim to safety.
Dry drowning is a condition in which someone who has almost drowned will re-experience the same symptoms – chest pain, difficulty breathing – even though they’re out of the water. In this film, it serves as a metaphor for the lingering effects of trauma. Director Laurynas Bareisa finds a unique cinematic language to explore how different characters processed what happened that weekend. Part of the appeal of this Lithuanian drama is that you never know if what you’re watching is taking place in the present, past or future. Before Bareisa reveals what really happened, we see how life always goes on for those who’ve managed to survive.