Capital Celluloid 2022 — Day 72: Mon Mar 14

Somersault (Shortland, 2014): BFI Sothbank, NFT2, 6.10pm


This 35mm presentation is part of the female coming-of-age films season (details here) and also screens on 11th March (details here).

Chicago Reader review:
An alluring Australian teenager (Abbie Cornish) stumbles into a kiss with her mother’s boyfriend, and after mom catches them red-handed the impulsive girl finds herself out on the street, where her only asset is a sexuality she doesn’t quite understand. Arriving in a mountain town, she’s not averse to trading her body for a place to sleep, but her bad choices come back to haunt her when she begins to connect emotionally with the townspeople, especially the bottled-up hunk (Sam Worthington) who catches her eye. This beautifully understated feature (2004) revolves around sex, but it’s neither erotic nor puritanical; its young characters are governed by their urges, but the experience itself seems as neutral and mysterious as sleep. Cate Shortland directed.
J R Jones

Here (and above) is the trailer.

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