She Monkeys Review

14th May 2012

This wonderful film from Sweden lingers in the mind long after watching it. The premise is fairly straight forward. Emma is a teenage girl who has joined a small group of girl in equestrian vaulting. Here she meets Cassandra whom she forms a close, yet competitive relationship. All the while, her younger sister is starting to do some growing up of her own.

There is a strong Pleasure and Pain parallel here running throughout the film as the two teenage girls get to know each other and then playfully toy with both each other’s minds as well as others around them. The power struggle starts to break down sexual barriers and leads them both to a more dangerous place (as they are both quite literally in competition with each other in almost every aspect of life as well as the vaulting championship that is coming up).

In the background we also follow Emma’s much younger sister who is becoming aware of her own body and perhaps her own sexual awakening towards men which she duly takes out on her babysitter.

Director Lisa Aschan has found a truly wonderful lead in Mathilda Paradeiser who does most of her acting through blank facial expressions moving only her eyes and through concentrated breathing. It’s hard not to gaze as she watches instead of interacts.

Aschan directs at a slow pace, but still brings the film’s length right in to a short running time. She Monkey’s has already won some acclaim and provides audiences with a great alternative to all the noise of the current Holiday season blockbusters.