Mall Girls

Though infused with what feels like a vibe of authenticity, Mall Girls‘ aggressive lack of plot slowly but surely transforms it into an unusually interminable experience – with its increasingly simplistic message inevitably exacerbating its various problems. The movie follows a shy teenager (Anna Karczmarczyk’s Alicja) as she befriends a trio of slutty fellow students and eventually comes to abandon her well-meaning ways, with her less-than-savory behavioral changes eventually affecting her family and a longtime crush. Director Katarzyna Roslaniec admittedly does a nice job of initially establishing the world within which Alicja resides, as the character is essentially surrounded by sleaziness on all sides – with her inability to make friends at school compounded by her almost abusive home life (ie her father is indifferent to her and her mother seems to actively dislike her). But Roslaniec’s inability to draw the viewer into this world and turn Alicja into a sympathetic figure inevitably triggers the film’s downfall; Alicja is generally portrayed as an apathetic figure who doesn’t seem to care much about anything, which makes it awfully difficult to work up any concern for her increasingly perilous plight. It certainly doesn’t help that Roslaniec’s screenplay is often as muddled as it is plotless, with Ala’s completely inexplicable decision to break a date with her crush to try her hand at prostitution (!) undoubtedly standing as the movie’s most baffling development. The final shot is impressive, admittedly, yet Mall Girls‘ relentlessly aimless sensibilities effectively transform it into an interminable experience virtually from the get-go.

*1/2 out of ****