Paradise: Hope
“Beyond darkness... beyond desolation... lies the greatest danger of all.”
Hope, the third film in the PARADISE TRILOGY, tells the story of the 13-year-old Melanie. While her mother (Teresa) travels to Kenya, Melanie spends her holiday in the Austrian countryside at a strict diet camp for overweight teenagers. Under the supervision of a tattooed trainer and a creepy doctor, the teenagers attempt to do sports during the day and secretly get drunk in the evening. Between physical education and nutrition counseling, pillow fights and her first cigarette, Melanie falls in love with the doctor who is 40 years her senior.
A deeply uncomfortable and raw coming-of-age story. It captures the awkwardness of adolescent desire and the painful realities of body image, set against a backdrop of strict discipline and secret rebellion. Feels like a fever dream.
