In the post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure film VESPER, 13 year old Vesper (Raffiella Chapman) has a hard and lonely life in a desolate no man‘s land. Earth‘s eco-system has collapsed, nature has become lethal and barren. An approximation of normal life is only possible in the fortresses. Those who aren‘t let in have to get by on their own – and Vesper is an expert at that. Good or bad, she had to learn to take care of everything herself, especially keeping her father (Richard Blake) alive, who is bed-ridden and can only communicate with a modified drone. When she finds fortress inhabitant Camellia in the forest, she is exposed to new possibilities of escaping her suffering.

Directing duo Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper don‘t handle the audience‘s nerves with kid gloves. The scary and detailed set design creates a world filled with nightmares and peculiarities that are marshy, painful and tangible. Moreover, the people make each other‘s lives hell. Evil is personified by men who create Frankensteinesque life and abuse them for their own needs. Vesper doesn‘t want the stronger opponents to get her down and wants to breathe new life into nature. As disgusting and nasty as VESPER‘s world is, the living, bright plants in her greenhouse are soul-stirringly beautiful. Hope can also be seen in the gentle relationship between Vesper and Camille which forms under extreme circumstances. With their intense acting, Chapman and McEwen embark on a mutual trip that we sympathize so much with it is sometimes hard to bear.

Eva Szulkowski

Translation: Elinor Lewy