Berlinale

The relationship between children and their parents offers an almost endless expanse of cinematic storytelling. Sometimes it pushes the limits of what is bearable (“Mommy” by Xavier Dolan or “We need to talk about Kevin” by Lynne Ramsay), at best such films are precisely drawn psychographs of what makes us human (C ‘mon, C’mon by Mike Mills). »Kiddo« (Generation Kplus section), by the Dutch filmmaker Zara Dwinger, is neither, nor is it a sensitive portrait of a mother-daughter relationship, just without the whole burden of closeness-distance problems, toxic dependencies or emotional abuse on the tableau to lift. The story isn’t all that shallow either.

Lu (Rosa van Leeuwen) grows up in a foster family and wants nothing more than a visit from her mother, whom she hasn’t seen in years. When she announces herself by phone, the girl is beside herself with nervousness and is initially disappointed (as is so often the case). But then her mother turns up. And in front of her is a real Hollywood star (that’s what the two want to believe) and he still does his own stunts and drives up in a shabby but still quite impressive blue Chevrolet. Karina (Frieda Barnhard) definitely succeeded in her performance. And precisely because she does not correspond to the classic mother image, she is a real fascination for Lu. Other, more narrow-minded types, call them crazy. Suddenly Karina is standing on a truck and asks her daughter to come up to her and shout out loud to the world that at least it helps to not freak out every day.

The two embark on a whimsical road trip from the Netherlands to Poland, where Karina has hidden a substantial chunk of money in her mother’s house as seed capital for a new life with her daughter. Their path takes them past the filthiest gas stations, motels and diners that Poland has to offer and, funnily enough, the pictures are no different at all from any route through the American Midwest. Wielkopolska or Wyoming, only the Cold War made the difference.

On this journey, the two rediscover their relationship with each other in a way that is typical of the genre, but without being particularly reproachful or sensitive. Karina is not at all interested in what her daughter’s life was like without her, messages like “all or nothing” or “rather no mother than a bad one” are important to her, and Lu doesn’t ask why she can’t live with her. We’ll find out along the way. The pills make my head go numb.

»Kiddo« deliberately leaves out all the psychological issues or only cuts them, which gives the film a lightness that is initially irritating, but makes sense as the film progresses, because director Dwinger has not made a film for adults that is overloaded with the analysis of a dysfunctional relationship, but she wants eleven-year-olds to find themselves in it too. Whenever you have to be afraid that the film is just stringing one quirky quirkiness of the mother after the next, the break comes and we see a grown woman who is much more a child than her daughter and this is to protect herself from a world that is too harsh . In the end, it’s Lu who changes her mother’s credo from “all or nothing” to “all or a little”, taking the relationship to a new level. Where the mother previously wanted to impose her irrepressible lifestyle on her daughter, she realizes that Lu is no longer a plaything for her egocentricity, which culminates in the sentence: »Mom, don’t promise, just do it«.

In a fascinating trash look of hot pants, terry cloth bathing suits, cowboy boots and plastic sunglasses, the film tells the story of two outsiders who are together looking for a home that is not a place, but a loved one.

»Kiddo«: Netherlands 2023. Director: Zara Dwinger, Screenplay: Zara Dwinger and Nena van Driel. With: Rosa van Leeuwen, Frieda Barnhard. 91 minutes. Dates: February 23, 1 p.m.: Zoo Palast 2.