“While its ambition is admirable, the film struggles when it comes to putting its ideas into practice.”

At some point we all come to realise who we are meant to be, and whether this moment comes as soon as we gain a sense of identity in our childhood or later in life, it can be a revelatory moment – and sometimes, all it takes is a single person entering our lives that will make our purpose clear. This is where director Kukla draws inspiration for Fantasy, in which we follow the daily life of Mihrije, a reserved teenage girl in Slovenia who yearns to break free from the middle-class malaise that has dictated her routine for years. This all changes when she meets Fantasy, a young trans woman who embodies everything that Mihrije aspires to be – she is confident, audacious and is beyond unapologetic, aiming to leave an impression in any room she enters. The pair strike up a strong friendship, which ultimately leads to them both developing deeper feelings, not taking into account the challenges that lie ahead of them. A film that contains some fascinating ideas, but falls apart at the seams in some areas that perhaps matter more than others, Fantasy is certainly very ambitious, but has some significant flaws that do weigh it down from truly achieving greatness, which was certainly well within its reach based on the director’s willingness to have some very complex conversations.

Fantasy lays out its themes quite clearly at the start – it is actually somewhat heavy in terms of exposition, with many of the early ideas being communicated directly through dialogue rather than emerging organically. Nevertheless, the ideas being explored are certainly resonant, considering the story touches on issues around gender and sexuality. It uses the identity of the characters as an entry point into interrogating many contemporary perceptions on how society responds to those who exhibit differences, whether visibly or through their own chosen attempt to play a particular social role. Kukla crafted Fantasy as a coming-of-age story about a girl caught in the ambiguous space between adolescence and adulthood, forced to reckon with the emotional consequences that come with falling in love. Kukla is clearly driven by her own fascination with identity and performance, and she develops a narrative that may not be particularly revolutionary, essentially being an assemblage of common points of discussion. Yet her willingness to approach these themes with nothing but empathy and genuine curiosity does give Fantasy a distinct charm that one must admire.

While its ambition is admirable, the film struggles when it comes to putting its ideas into practice, becoming a somewhat heavy-handed work that isn’t sure whether it wants to be a gritty exploration of the dynamic between these characters, or aligned with magical realism – and the result is a slightly lacklustre blend of both, neither of which is fully developed. The first half is slightly too disjointed, as it becomes quite clear that the film is struggling to find its voice, and while it does gain some momentum in the second act, it isn’t enough to create the necessary cohesion to allow the film to meet all of our expectations or honour the powerful story. It doesn’t suffice to introduce these ideas and filter them through an ethereal lens, since it evidently becomes less about the story and more about the spectacle. That spectacle is undeniably compelling, but does strike us as somewhat hollow when we realise that it is overly flowery filmmaking that disguises a strong but otherwise conventional narrative. The themes aren’t done a disservice by the slightly heavy-handed execution, but they do struggle to register quite as well as they would have if the director had chosen one particular approach rather than blending several together.

One aspect of the film that we can wholeheartedly celebrate as perhaps the best part is the performance delivered by Alina Juhart, who is the primary reason Fantasy is somewhat effective. This is the definition of a star is born moment – she bursts onto the screen with the confidence of a seasoned veteran, delivering a performance that feels so authentic and is clearly drawn from a deeply personal place. Nearly every moment Juhart is on screen the film rapidly improves and actually does approach greatness, solely because of her steadfast commitment to infusing life into every aspect of the titular character. Unfortunately she is more of a secondary character, with the focus being on Sarah Al Saleh, whose perspective is the driving force behind the film. It is possible to argue that Mihrije is an intentionally vague, blank slate of a character, as we see the world through her eyes, and the viewer follows her on this journey of self-discovery as she seeks out answers to some personal quandaries. However, she is eclipsed by her co-star, who is the saving grace for a film that is understandably more fascinated by her than it is by its protagonist; this creates a complicated scenario where the film contains one truly incredible aspect, but where everyone else struggles to leave the same impression.

Ultimately, Fantasy is a classic case of a film with good ideas and a few very strong components such as the titular performance, but which simply falls short by overextending itself beyond its capabilities, resulting in the flaws and merits being roughly equal. The result is a squarely middle-of-the-road drama that has good ideas, but struggles to execute them all that well. Kukla clearly has a strong vision and is competent as both a writer and visual stylist (and it is important to note that this is her directorial debut, so it is likely the flaws will be ironed out with her next film), but there is simply too much going on throughout this film. It is constantly trying too hard to make a bold statement on the subject of identity, queerness and belonging, not realising that a more concise and simple approach would not only be more appropriate for this material, but also aid in revealing more about the human condition than one may expect. It’s a flawed film, but the effort to tell this story, and the craftsmanship on both sides of the camera do indicate that there’s an abundance of potential present here. It simply needed to take the time to flesh out its core ideas more thoroughly, which would have been the first step to honouring the promise the film seemed to have at the outset.