Little Trouble Girls
Lucia’s world is shaken at a choir camp in an Italian monastery when a fellow chorister awakens forbidden feelings. This tender coming-of-age story feels like something from Sofia Coppola or Céline Sciamma.
It begins with sound. Though many films have started this way, the opening of Slovenian director Urška Djukić’s Little Trouble Girls is no less powerful—quite literally breathtaking.
The girls’ choir welcomes new members. Among them is Lucia, her nervous presence observed for a moment in a close-up in the beginning of the film. Just before rehearsal begins, a confident figure bursts in—red lips, a mane of hair, and wild energy. Ana-Maria, the group’s free spirit, has arrived to disrupt the life of the devoted Lucia.
It’s summer, they are young, and sexuality is both alluring and frightening. The choir travels to a summer intensive in the sensually glowing landscapes of northern Italy, under the watchful eye of a convent. The choir director is meticulous and demanding, the nuns observant. Renovations are underway at the convent. Among the older men working on the renovation site, there is one younger and livelier man who is fun to watch secretly.
Nothing in Djukić’s debut feature feels clichéd; on the contrary, Little Trouble Girls is as fresh as a just-picked, juicy apple. The story is seen through the girls’ eyes, inviting curiosity about what else Lucia thinks beyond her devotion to God. The film shows that these girls are more than their first impressions in the opening scene—they are not just the wild one and the serious one.
Jaana Semeri (translated by Pauliina Jännes)
Trailer
