Spaces inhabited as extensions of their experiences and reality and dreams blurring the shores of its reach make XXL the journey of Magdalena (Astrid Drettner) and Enzo (Georgios Giokotos) one where the audience is implicitly invited to participate in.
Written and directed by Kim Ekberg and Sawandi Groskind, it follows an estranged brother and sister trying to reconnect by spending a weekend in Helsinki. In the course of the weekend, they will face situations that trigger ruminations about life, art, and existentialism. The title of the movie seems to infer its aim at covering vast areas of meaning and significance. A maximalist experience juxtaposes with its uneventful travel diary feel and traces the ground for what thought furthers by embodying each of the characters introspective thoughts, ideas, and idiosyncrasies. Idiosyncrasies underscored by its cinematography and its often close-ups of the pair enhancing their different profiles as sites for profundity but also of drama.
The use of stereoscopic imagery containing rapid flashes has to be the best moment in the movie. The unexpectedness of it, along with the beauty and fascinating effect they produce, is something rarely seen in cinema.
