“Too simplistic and unfocused to be entirely successful.”

Is there any topic that can truly be considered off-bounds when it comes to fictionalised dramatizations? It’s a question that we often ask ourselves, particularly in the aftermath of great tragedies or other cataclysmic events. We are now about five years removed from the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic (which is still ongoing, lest we forget that we are still seeing new strains emerging on occasion and are not quite out of the woods just yet), and we’ve slowly started to see dramatized works that address the topic trickling through. The resistance to these films is understandable – it’s still recent enough in our memory that willingly committing time to watching a film which examines the pandemic does not seem particularly appealing, and there has generally been a widespread sentiment that it doesn’t seem appropriate to use it as the foundation for any kind of artistic work. Yet, there have been a few examples of films that do relatively well in exploring the subject, making it clear that there will come a time when this harrowing but complex chapter in global history will become much more prominent as far as cinematic expression is concerned. This sets the stage for a discussion of Made in EU, the most recent offering by Stephan Komandarev, who crafts another very simple drama that tackles intimidating social issues – in this case, the recent pandemic and the impact it had around the world. A film that is perhaps more focused on being reliable than it is on saying anything particularly inventive, it doesn’t quite reach the heights we may expect, even with someone who tends to have a strong perspective at the helm.

The director attempts to weave together a vibrant tapestry of perspectives, showing the spread of not only the virus, but also the fear that was felt across the world. Issues such as the death rate (and those who were most affected) and the fact that most countries were ill-equipped to handle this sudden occurrence are at the very heart of the film, which attempts to cast as wide a net as possible in an effort to be a thorough depiction of the first few weeks and months of the pandemic, as seen by various people. In this case, the residents of a small town in Bulgaria, with particular focus on a young woman employed at a clothing factory that initially sees the opportunity to increase their profits by mass-producing masks. The film is built on a very basic foundation, which is to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it essentially plunged the entire world into a state of panic and paranoia as we collectively confronted this new, sudden threat to our existence. We may look at this period in hindsight and scoff at what might be considered a global overreaction, but we’re all very aware of the fear we felt, which is something that Komandarev focuses on evoking throughout this film, divided into half a dozen chapters that follow various characters as they oscillate between their homes, hospitals and workplaces, each one gradually confronting the reality of the situation as it unfolds.

Komandarev should be commended for his ability to effectively capture those early days and how the world downplayed this new disease, but rapidly found itself descending into complete despair as it became quite clear that it was not something that could be dismissed. However, there are a few shortcomings here that prevent Made in EU from being as effective as it could have been with a tighter, more consistent approach. The ensemble nature of the narrative is understandable, as it allows the director to touch on different aspects of the pandemic. However, it does become slightly unwieldy, and we lose focus when the story keeps shifting between different characters, each with their own arc, unfortunately not properly developed in order to keep the film to a reasonable running time. It also feels too obvious in what it is trying to convey, and while a bare-boned, straightforward approach is not a flaw in itself, there were so many ways to tell such a story without following the same conventions we usually find with these subjects. Komandarev is a genuinely competent filmmaker who is capable of achieving greatness with the right topic, but it feels like creating a film that follows a very familiar pattern without saying anything new is not the right approach, regardless of how he may have intended it to come across as some immersive social drama. The actors are, for the most part, very good (especially Gergana Pletnyova as the central protagonist), but they can only do so much to compensate for the film’s shortcomings.

Made in EU is a very simple film, and we can’t earnestly say that it is without flaws or that it isn’t overloaded by the weight of its subject matter – but it is, at the very least, a decent, middle-of-the-road social drama with good intentions; it just falters in the execution. Ultimately, it loses sight of the overall meaning, which is a non-negotiable when making films about major historical events such as the pandemic, at least in terms of the period that is the focus of this film. Instead, it becomes simply another opportunity to revisit a period in modern history without saying anything special or that we could not have gleaned from looking back at the coverage of the pandemic at the time. Sadly, the director placed himself in a position where it would have been impossible to tell this story in any context – it doesn’t tackle anything new and feels quite dated, since a lot has changed in the past half-decade. However, making the film at an earlier point (such as a bit closer to the peak of the pandemic) would have been in poor taste, especially since he directly addresses not only the number of deaths and long-term side effects, but also the social unease and paranoia that encompassed the entire world. It accomplishes what it set out to do, and it has some merits, but for the most part, Made in EU is too simplistic and unfocused to be entirely successful, and it becomes too weak and indistinct in all the areas that matter the most.