234. Blue My Mind; movie review

BLUE MY MIND

Cert 18
BBFC advice: Contains brief explicit images

Well, there's something you don't see every day - when a girl hits puberty she begins to grow into a fish.
Mia (Luna Wedler) conforms to the teenage stereotype of being wretched to her parents and tempted by the wrong crowd.
She blames that on trying to fit in at a new school after her mum and dad moved to a new town.
Meanwhile, she is completely sideswiped by her other temptation - to eat her mum's goldfish.
Blue My Mind is part coming-of-age drama and part gentle horror.

Director and co-writer Lisa Brühlmann brilliantly observes what it is like to be the new kid in school.
Mia, her key character, tries to impress the popular group, led by a Gianna (Zoë Pastelle Holthuizen) who drinks, smokes and throws herself at boys.
Meanwhile, she is a foreigner in her own body which is playing tricks that are well beyond the teenage girl norm.
According to its accompanying press notes, Brühlmann's movie is an allegory for adolescence - the time in which the line between fantasy and identity disappears.
Thus, she makes the changes in female anatomy even more horrific than they are.
I found the whole fish thing hard to understand but, as said, she does have a handle on teenage angst and loneliness and subsequent rage.
Many may find Blue My Mind odd and possibly difficult but they will not be able to forget it in a hurry.

Reasons to watch: Unusual and compelling
Reasons to avoid: Its weirdness and it takes too long to get going

Laughs: None
Jumps: One
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? Switzerland has one of the highest percentages of 15-year-old cannabis smokers in Europe, just behind France, according to a World Health Organisation report published in 2016. 

The final word. Lisa Brühlmann: "When I pitched Blue My Mind I never called it a horror movie. I would call it a coming-of-age fantasy-drama. Of course, I was aware it has horror elements in it. But then you can’t control where to find your audience, and I’m happy, many horror fans love the movie."

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