Call girl

20-year-old Aleksandra (Nina Ivanišin) seems to be a normal student. While she lived with her father Edo (Peter Musevski) in a small town in Slovenia until recently, she now studies English in Ljubljana. Aleksandra dreams of success and independence and is willing to work really hard for it. With the prospect of a condominium, she also accepts working as a prostitute. Under the pseudonym Slovenian Girl, she places her ads in a local newspaper and usually visits her clients in anonymous hotel rooms. But when one of her clients dies from an overdose of Viagra, the student not only becomes the target of the police, but also attracts the interest of two brutal pimps who won't allow a girl to profit from her work all by herself. But even though the situation is getting more and more out of control, Aleksandra tries to hold on to her dream for the future and her determination. But exactly that could be her biggest mistake...

In recent years, films like The Better Life or Student, 19, Seeking... have repeatedly addressed the problem that more and more young female students have to earn their education with the help of prostitution. Croatian filmmaker Damjan Kozole also deals with this difficult topic in Callgirl. However, his production differs from most other films about prostituting female students in that he almost completely dispenses with shocking sex scenes. Whereas in The Better Life, for example, extremely humiliating sex practices were shown with unsparing frankness, without taking the time to go into the consequences for the girls, Kozole refrains from such moments. Instead, he concentrates on the character of his main character, a young woman who at the beginning seems very self-confident and almost detached, but who changes more and more in the face of dying punters, brutal pimps, increasing financial problems, an extremely clingy ex-boyfriend and even very simple study problems.

And that is exactly what makes Callgirl strong. Although Aleksandra is never degraded to a helpless victim, it is also shown in the almost soberly told story that a life like the one the student has chosen cannot be led without consequences for one's own character and personal environment. That this is believably conveyed is not only due to the very authentic production, but also to the extremely strong performance of newcomer Nina Ivanišin, who was chosen from over fifty applicants. The young actress acts with a convincing naturalness that, especially in some of the more intense scenes, gives you downright goosebumps.

Callgirl is certainly not feel-good cinema. But fortunately, the film is also not quite as depressing and drearily staged as some other arthouse fare from Eastern Europe. Damjan Kozole has directed a good, moving social drama that scores points with its good story and a great lead actress. If you are comfortable with slightly more difficult program cinema works, Callgirl can definitely be recommended. Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp