Girls Lost (II) (2015) User Reviews

If you like YA films.

[s-bannerman12 · 7/10 · 23 October 2016]

Girls Lost is a very unique film, a gem, beautifully filmed and put together and whilst many of the strange 'trippy' sequences did throw me a little, all in all the film is a great watch albeit rather uncomfortable to watch when the school bullies are acting like the horrible human beings they are.

The cast are fantastic and from the moment they appear on screen, there isn't an unconvincing scene within the movie. I wasn't totally sure what sort of film to expect when the opening credits for Girls Lost began. But the film is definitely a hidden gem. And by that I don't mean the film hasn't been seen, I just mean that because its a subtitled film that doesn't have a major studio behind it, that the film probably hasn't been seen by as many people as the film deserves to be seen by. If you are a fan of Young Adult movies, then definitely check out Girls Lost when it hits the screens in November,

Strange, but intriguing exploration of gender and sexual identity

[Evil_Herbivore · 7/10 · 3 December 2018]

Girls Lost is a movie about identity. It follows the story of three teenage girls - Kim, Momo, and Bella - who get bullied at school and pretty much keep to themselves. Everything changes when they find a plant with unique magic powers - it allows them to transform into boys.

From the synopsis one would assume the movie is a fantasy story about the girls (now boys) and their adventures. This is not true. The magical element is simply a plot device used for exploration of both gender - when the girls discover they get treated very differently when they are boys - and sexual identity - when characters experiment with their feelings in all possible configurations, be it girl/girl, boy/boy or girl/boy. This is taken even further when each of them has to answer who they really are and what is important to them when Kim realises she is really a boy on the inside.

The movie is very good at building a unique climate, with cinematography, lighting and music working together very well. The acting is also really good, as even though the girls are played by different actors after they turn into boys, I had no problem believing they are still the same people.

The only issue I have with this movie the fact that sometimes it asks the viewer to suspend their disbelief a bit too much, like when no one notices that two of the girls use their real names when they are boys. However, I can forgive that, as I believe the movie is meant to be treated as a metaphor rather than anything else. And when seen as such, it is quite moving and memorable.

Simply wondrous film of coming of age in a very different way – from Sweden

[t-dooley-69-386916 · 7/10 · 13 January 2017]

Kim, Momo and Bella are three teenage girls going to a highly unenlightened school I Sweden. They are different – lesbians being the label the other kids give them. The three of them are alone together and cocoon themselves off away from the pain and ridicule as much as they can.

Then one day a package of plant seeds arrives and it contains a seed that they had not ordered, so they plant it in the greenhouse and it miraculously grows into a flowering beauty overnight. Then, as in a Fairy Tale of old, they each taste the juice of its fruits. The results are brilliant and leads them on to a journey of discovery about their true selves.

Now I thoroughly enjoyed this – the Fairy Tale element really worked even though I normally dislike such contrivances and devices. The acting is all excellent as is the direction and the story has a vibrancy that carries you with it – completely recommended.

The worst movie ever

[oscareld · 1/10 · 1 June 2020]

This might be the worst movie I've ever watched. Such a bad dialogue, bad actors and bad editing if I could I would give it -5

To find oneself, but lose it again... and vice versa.

[Howlin Wolf · 10/10 · 22 August 2017]

I don't think I've been this enchanted by the possibilities of cinema since I watched "The NeverEnding Story", as a kid! The two films aren't at all alike, in theme - but they both gave me the same sense of wonder. The music and soundtrack plays a part in this; it just envelops you like a warm, comforting blanket, drawing you in.

Thinking about the subject, it's almost impossible for me to say what made me connect with this, in the way that I did.

The thing is, I've always known who I'm supposed to be (I haven't always LIKED who I am, but I'm certain that it was meant to happen). I can't imagine feeling ill at ease, and yet suddenly having the opportunity to change it... I can't imagine how intoxicating such a radical switch would be.

Except that now I have an inkling of an idea, because I watched this film... It's too reductive to call it a 'young adult' work, as I have seen it labelled. It should be required viewing for anybody who has the innate curiosity to try and understand how it feels to be in someone else's shoes.

Beautiful, harsh, poetic and strange - it is all of these things, and more... A sublime film.

Sensitive, Gritty Coming-of-Age Tale with Transgender Themes

[earthboli · 8/10 · 9 June 2017]

I gave this foreign film a try, not really expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Initially, it feels like a semi-lighthearted and fanciful exploration of girls and their trouble at school, but the movie gets darker and more intense as you watch (similar to Cracks, another coming-of-age gem about a group of girls that starts light and quickly darkens). In this movie, the fantasy element of an odd, dripping black plant grants the girls the ability to be boys for a short time, a catalyst for exploration and awakenings, but also creates rifts in the friendship and new relationships that threaten the old.

Kim, one of the three girls, becomes addicted to the plant when she realizes that she feels at home in a boy's body. This causes a lot of complications among the friends and with others, culminating in an intense ending that seemed a bit odd and abrupt, at best. On the flip side, jealousy, love, sexual awakenings/gender awakenings, and all of those labile emotions of adolescence are very palpable in this film, and sensitively captured both with the male and female actors, who did a great job.

It's a little heavy-handed at times, but as I mentioned, the curiosity and sensitivity of adolescence are captured well. Some questions are left unanswered (why do they transform into older boys?, etc.), but these questions and some of the aforementioned issues aside, this film is surprisingly enigmatic.

Also, I was happy to hear The Knife contributing to the soundtrack....there's no mistaking Karin Andersson's banshee-like voice.

Overall, Girls Lost is a solid coming-of-age movie that burns out at the end, but is still worth watching for its handling of the issues of gender identity, love, and jealousy.

Swedish film, English subtitles, 3 friends find out how it is to be boys.

[TxMike · 10 February 2017]

I came across this small independent Swedish movie on Netflix streaming movies. The girls are good friends and are sexually intimidated at school by the boys, called names, pushed down, etc.

One of the girls has a greenhouse at her home and they discover a plant that grows very quickly, seemingly from seed to maturity overnight. The smell a liquid from the plant, it reminds them of vanilla. Boldly each of them tastes the fluid.

After they sleep for a while they wake up together to find their breasts gone, their looks changed, and they have boy parts. They go to school and no one recognizes them, even though their boy looks are similar to their girl looks. (Different actors, boys and girls, play the corresponding boy-girl roles.)

What starts out as a teenager sci-fi story quickly develops into a darker look at gender identity, one of the girls, Kim, finds that she likes being a boy, Kim, but also is attracted to another boy. He rejects boy Kim's affections, beats him and sends him away, threatening to seriously harm or kill him if he persists.

In the end the greenhouse is burned down, no more gender-swapping, but the experience has made Kim wonder about her true self and she leaves home, asking parents not to come looking for her.

In interesting film.

I saw the premise on Netflix and went for it! lol...

[juanmuscle · 10/10 · 21 October 2018]

But I had no idea it was a foreign film, (which is always very interesting) to learn about new cultures perhaps? But this wasn't about learning how pretty the vistas and midlands and highlands are, how snow capped mountains sweep the denizens away into beautiful dreams forever borne on the wings of tomorrow, oh no, this was , to me, much much more. I thought the premise idea whatever was really gripping with its unique ingenous quality so I went for it, boy was this a good write, only later when I came to IMDB did I find out it was based from a novel. I did not read this, but if it was anything like the book, I'm sure its a fine very fine book. All I can say about this is, the dialogue flowed well, the characters were fleshed out really nicely and the plot ran smoothly and terrifically culminating to the climacteric which to me, ended perfectly. I would def, recommend this to anyone especially dickhead bullies, hopefully someone can learn a little something about being different and appreciating those differences or at least respecting them.