Growing Down

The blended family is adjusting to one another. Having found Klará, widower Sándor has become his old self once again—the familiar Sanyi—in the eyes of his friend Zoci. Into the teasing coexistence of 12-year-old Dénes and his older brother Zsiga now enters Klará’s daughter, Sári. Same age as Dénes, she is becoming the boys’ sister and the family’s bridge-builder, but in the world of children, jealousy is never far away. When Sanyi witnesses a reckless act by Dénes, the father resorts to desperate secrecy. Everything threatens to fall apart, and Sári’s health and future are at stake.

Bálint Dániel Sós’ debut carries a momentum that sustains the tightly woven drama. The weight of its psychological tension is balanced by flashes of sarcastic humor. Under the camera lens, it is not so much childhood innocence that is captured, but the erosion of a sense of justice caused by life. Hope is clung to even when it is deceptive.

Ágoston Sáfrány delivers a powerful performance as Dénes, a boy who must confront at every moment the moral dilemma his father Sanyi tries to bury. Anna Háy, in the role of Klará, effectively conveys the mutual trust Sanyi lets go of. The film’s Budapest setting is enriched by music, education, the burdens carried by the parents, and a latent distrust of the authorities.

Justus Pitkänen (translated by Kati Ilomäki)