Consequences | Posledice (2018)
Consequences | Posledice (2018)
Synopsis (adapted from IMDB):
The 18-year-old Andrej (Matej Zemljič) is sent to a youth detention centre due to problematic behaviour. There, he has to fight for his place within the group of inmates while getting closer to Žele (Timon Šturbej), the informal leader of the detainees. Upon working out Andrej's secret, Žele soon begins to take advantage of him; Andrej's sense of responsibility and moral integrity are put to the test. Ultimately, he must choose between Žele and staying true to himself.
Review:
I believe that Consequences | Posledice is the first narrative LGBT+ feature film that Slovenia has produced (or at least that has been released internationally). Written and directed by Darko Štante, it was interesting to watch a gay-themed film from a quite conservative Eastern European country. The film gave a good account of itself and didn’t particularly hold back, and it was a bit different from other films I’ve seen, so I found it an enjoyable watch.
Consequences | Posledice follows the story of Andrej, a handsome, troubled 18-year old who is considered to be out of control with his partying, much to the concern of his parents. After an altercation with a girl, who mocks him at a party for not being able to perform sexually, he is sent to a detention centre.
At the centre, the other guys initially give him a hard time, especially Žele, the de facto leader of the detainees. Žele is probably the physically strongest of the detainees and uses his physicality to assert his dominance. He’s a bully and a thug, who appears to lack a conscience, at times seeming unhinged and crazy, with a scary level of aggression. He extorts the other guys and it is he that Andrej must prove himself to, which he does by showing his strength at the gym.
Andrej feels detached from his family, who he believes don’t care for him, especially his mother. He finds a sense of belonging with Žele and his gang, and when the detainees are allowed out of the centre at weekends, he spends his time smoking, partying, drinking and taking hard drugs with the gang. It is clear that Andrej is not interested in girls and there are times when he seems to be checking out Žele (such as at the gym) and trying to impress him (such as by taking drugs). Andrej starts to get involved with the bullying and extortion and before long he is taking part in more serious crimes; he’s with the gang when they steal a car and then threaten people with knives. While Andrej may have been out of control before going to the centre, this is a different level of crime. He even extorts from his roommate and friend from the centre, Luka, for Žele. Andrej does have doubt though and is intimidated by what he is taking part in, and he’s worried about possible consequences.
Žele has a girlfriend, Svetlana, but he soon starts to recognise that Andrej isn’t interested in girls and realises that Andrej is actually more interested in him. In a scene at a hotel, Andrej meets Miki, who is friends with Žele and Svetlana, who are also present. The four take drugs and Miki is clearly checking out Andrej. Žele starts making out with Svetlana on a bed and they quickly invite Andrej to join in. Pretty quickly Žele starts making out with just Andrej, and Miki then joins. They are interrupted by Svetlana passing out, and Žele asks Miki to take her home; Andrej and Žele then continue making out and begin to undress each other. The two wake up together in the morning and decide to grab coffee. Žele tells Andrej that he keeps ‘insurance’ on his phone. By this he means photos and videos of everyone, ‘Dope, fights, threats...If anyone squeals, he’ll have it 10 times worse.’ He can use this to blackmail people so they do what he wants or he will punish them. Andrej asks if Žele has anything on him; Žele raises his eyebrows and tips his head but doesn’t reply. Žele receives a call from Svetlana and leaves to meet her; Andrej is disappointed as he and Žele were supposed to go get a kebab together. He is clearly confused by what is going on between him and Žele.
At another party Miki and Andrej kiss, which is filmed by Niko, one of Žele’s closest friends. Back at the centre Žele promises to take Andrej to Amsterdam, just the two of them, and then he kisses Andrej. Andrej is clearly besotted by Žele and trusts him. However, Žele tells Andrej that he must extort someone first for a large sum of money, which Andrej reluctantly agrees to. Andrej has a crisis of conscience when he discovers that the people who he is supposed to extort have a young child, and after initially taking the money, he returns it. Around this point Andrej realises that Žele is just using him for money and that Žele might not actually have real feelings for him at all. Andrej stands up to Žele, but I’ll save any further spoilers on the outcome of this to the ‘Other Observations’ section below.
Consequences | Posledice was overall a solid film, with the journey of Andrej coming to terms with his sexuality while trying to navigate the detention centre hierarchy an interesting watch. His relationship with Žele was the main point of interest, with a definite chemistry between the characters, but also an uncertainty of what feelings are authentically reciprocated by Žele. Žele is by far the most interesting character and his physical almost animal-like nature make him ever unpredictable – you never know if he’s going to manipulate someone gently or whether he’s on the edge of a violent outburst. Andrej, alienated from his family and discovering his sexuality, is drawn to Žele, and despite witnessing Žele’s ways, he ignores the red flags and becomes part of the game.
Favourite Quote:
“Can you get that kind of money?” - Andrej
“Sure! We’re the Mafia, aren’t we?” - Žele
"Sure we are.” - Andrej
“Of course we are!” - Žele
Tone: Aggressive
Score: 7/10
Other Observations:
After Andrej stands up to Žele, the video of him and Miki kissing gets released online. Andrej calls his mother, who has seen it, and when he tells her that he might be gay, she tells him not to return home anymore. Back in his room, Andrej finds his rat has been killed, and in response he takes the knuckledusters given to him by Žele and goes to find him. Once he finds Žele he beats him, potentially killing him. Andrej then returns to his room, collects his rat’s body, flushes it and lights a cigarette.
It’s not clear whether Žele had any actual real feelings, fondness or attraction to Andrej. He is so unhinged that it is impossible to read whether he is being genuine or whether he is purely using Andrej to do his deeds. I reckon it’s all about dominance with Žele - he likes being able to control people and if with Andrej it has to be sexually then he is willing to do so. He enjoys the game of collecting ‘insurance’ over everyone.
I like the relationship between Andrej and his pet rat, Fifa. When people feel alone animals can be fantastic company – they give people purpose. Andrej clearly loves his rat and it’s cute seeing him look at photos of Fifa on his phone when missing him while away at the centre. After Andrej has taken Fifa from home to the centre, he is so proud to introduce him to Žele. Žele harming Fifa is the ultimate betrayal (especially after just outing Andrej), and I’m almost not surprised by how violently Andrej responds, feeling as though he has lost everything.
I’m not sure I’ll be adding any of the Eastern European party music to my Spotify playlists...
