All Our Fears

This is quite a well strung together look at just how gay rights and freedoms sometimes complement and sometimes contradict the more traditional and deep-rooted values held in rural communities and is especially poignant to look at now, as Poland continues to wrestle with it's own approach to civil and sexual liberties whilst reconciling the values of a church (and a congregation) that is less willing to move with the times. We know from the start that "Daniel" is not the only gay in the village - and we are not the only ones who know.

This is as much about people finding the confidence to follow their hearts as it is about religious intolerance, and as a short and punchy drama delivers quite well on that front. Sadly, it's that brevity that leads to simplicity and stereotyping in a way that rather undermined the core impact of the story for me. There is not really time to develop the characters nor to understand more about what created the scenario around the tragedy in the first place. That said, it's still a film worth watching and one that demonstrates that free thought and expression are still alive and well in a country that still has it's own demons to face, even now.

CinemaSerf

Trailer...

All Our Fears, 2021, Trailer EN from Film Republic on Vimeo.