This indie film is a really powerful look at how a community can suffocate you and the hidden corners young people have to find just to be themselves in so many European towns, even with all the progress we've seen lately. The whole story plays out while the town is bracing for a massive, raging flood, and you just can't shake the feeling that some kind of intense reckoning or unavoidable doom is headed their way. To be honest, I didn't go in with super high expectations, but the way it’s put together makes it a seriously compelling watch. Plus, it’s not every day you get to see an LGBT-themed movie coming out of Croatia! The story follows Marko, a popular 18-year-old kid who seems to have it all—he’s got a girlfriend, he’s a competitive arm wrestler, and he’s well-liked at school. When he isn't in class, he’s usually hanging out with his brother, who has a disability, or helping his mom out in her greenhouse. Everything gets flipped upside down when a guy named Slaven ...
The film is set in 2013 during the Jerry Sandusky trial, who was convicted of several child abuses while he was football coach in Penn State. Ben has finally come out to his mother as bisexual but his days and nights are filled up hook up sex sleeping with anyone and everyone and wherever who catches his eye. One day while browsing books, he meets Sam, a tall handsome black man and Ben feels he can have something more with him. turns out Sam despite being intimate and passionate is not comfortable holding hands in public to show his emotions. He has not come out. We find that in past Ben was shot after a hook up leading to him wear a shot bag outside all the time and he flinches horribly any time there’s an unexpected loud noise. Similarly, Ben grows nauseous and physically ill any time he overhears news of the Jerry Sandusky trial. Turns out he was one of the ids molested. The rest of the film focuses on their relationship each reassuring the other that he supports him, while not being ready to open up himself.
Cicada is an interesting and nuanced drama, examining two men trying to make their way in a society that still nurses prejudice, despite its claims of liberalism and acceptance. the film brings up issues like sex addiction, homophobia, gay and black, childhood trauma, intimacy issues etc., but somewhere i felt i lost the connect with the actors. Sam’s PTSD is entangled in his struggle to reconcile his race with his sexuality, which he keeps concealed from family and colleagues; Ben, though not long out of the closet himself, is impatient and insensitive to these frictions and nuances of identity. The film is a bot artsy and I am not sure of that is everyone's cup of tea or not. Its an important subject for sure but somewhere I felt. the film got a bot self-indulgent. The two actors did a good job but they lacked chemistry between them.
Although the film depicts the obstacles imposed by trauma against love and commitment, and how we must fight it, but somewhere , personally it failed to connect with me and felt really slow. (5.5/10)
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