Sickening…
Via Holywood Reporter:
Landing under the auspices of the Berlinale’s newly introduced Encounters strand aimed at fostering “aesthetically and structurally daring works,” The Trouble With Being Born, having its world premiere Thursday, could well end up being the most daring – not to mention divisive – film in a festival not known for holding back on provocation.
The second feature from Austrian director Sandra Wollner, the drama – which was already named one of the Berlinale 2020’s weirdest films based on the synopsis alone – begins gently enough, with a young girl lazing by a pool under the summer sun, discussing memories of her mother with her loving father. But as the scenes unravel it becomes clear that all is not as innocent as it first seemed.
Despite a remarkably lifelike appearance, the child – Elli – is actually an android, her memories programmed. And it doesn’t take long to realise that there’s something else to her relationship with this very human, very middle-aged man she calls “Daddy.”
Much of the nocturnal activity is only implied (perhaps leading many to question the depths of their own imagination), but there are moments where there’s absolutely no doubt as to the rather envelope-pushing direction the film is taking.
Wollner says the story was aimed at being an “antithesis to Pinocchio” (funnily enough, also showing at the festival, although without so many nods towards paedophilia), or Stanley Kubrick’s A.I., where the central characters dream of becoming human.