194. Take Me Somewhere Nice; movie review

TAKE ME SOMEWHERE NICE
Cert TBA
91 mins
BBFC advice: TBA

I am still cogitating on why I was engaged by Take Me Somewhere Nice.
Frankly, not a lot happens. Three young people are intertwined in love and a bit of loathing during a road trip to see a dying father.
One minute they are carefree and the next they are pressed by fear of the future. In other words, they have typical rollercoaster emotions of the young. I am absolutely not its target audience.
And yet, Ena Sendijarević's film still manages to touch a nerve.
It centres on Alma (Sara Luna Zoric) who leaves her mother’s home in the Netherlands to travel to her native Bosnia to visit the father she’s never met.
However, the welcome she receives from family is unexpectedly cold.
Her cousin Emir (Ernad Prnjavorac) mocks her easy life in the West and is resentful of an instruction to take her to her hospitalised father.
Curiously, despite the lack of hospitality, she falls for Emir's best friend Denis (Lazar Dragojevic), believing she has found romance while he just seems to want her for sex.
There is a slice of farce in Take Me Somewhere Nice surrounding the obstacles which stand in the way of Alma visiting her dad but she ploughs on regardless.
And, despite those barriers, she maintains her youthful rebellious energy.
That said, Zoric is not loud and overly pushy. She is just a normal girl, literally trying to find her way.
And she takes on her challenges with a backdrop of some dramatic Bosnian countryside which adds to the movie's attraction.
Some will say not enough happens but it is quirky, alluring and pretty enough to have kept me entertained. And it reminded me of being young when anything seemed possible.

Reasons to watch: Quirky and alluring
Reasons to avoid: Not much happens

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: Bare bums
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Did you know? There are at least two million people living abroad who originate from Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the data, published in a report on migration trends by Bosnia’s Security Ministry. Bosnian citizens mostly emigrate to Germany, followed by Austria, Croatia and Serbia.

The final word. Ena Sendijarević: "I always felt my struggles in life were too big for The Netherlands but too small for Bosnia. And the process of this film was in itself a step in rising above these struggles."

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