Toivon aika

This is an excellent drama about (not) dying, with perfectly believable characters, and it is filmed quite realistically, civilly and without pathos and too much pressure. Thanks to a great script and excellent (sometimes breath-taking) actors, the film is strong both in emotionally tense moments and in quieter passages. Bleak running through hospitals and consulting with staff who are not always compassionate during the Christmas holidays and at the turn of the year, administered consistently into the story day after day, surprisingly amounts to more than just a fall into depression and gloominess, because in its second half, especially with the approaching conclusion, the film tries to make up for the sadness with an enormous dose of touching sugar candy which, paradoxically, makes it lose a bit of its emotion. Even so, it is masterfully directed and in all respects a precise relationship study, and what is also interesting about it is that the initially somewhat alienated main characters, who are partners, find their way back to each other and their withered love noticeably gets a second wind precisely because of the vision of the potential imminent death of one of them. (30.09.2020)