Paradise: Hope

Paradise: Hope

2013 · 92 min · DE · 6.2 (134 votes)
Dir. Ulrich Seidl · Starring Melanie Lenz, Joseph Lorenz, Verena Lehbauer, Michael Thomas, Vivian Bartsch, Johanna Schmid · Paradise Trilogy
Drama

Her mother in Kenya, 13-year-old Melanie spends her summer vacation at a strict diet camp set in the Austrian countryside. Between workouts and nutrition classes, pillow fights and first cigarettes, she falls in love with a doctor 40 years her senior.

VIBE

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.

awkwarduncomfortableyearningmelancholiccringeyslow-burnarthouseEuropean dramaunflinching realismcoming-of-agedesirebody imageforbidden love
overweightnightclubseductiondietcrushcampdoctordesirenutrition