-Written by Kyle Bain.
When a secret makes its way around school, the butt of this horrible joke, Chakor (Priyanshi Sharma) is forced to make friends with a girl struggling with the fact that she has Lice. That young girl, Roshni (Perry Chhabra), now exists in a place of limbo, where she has the potential to make a new, life-long friend, but also risks losing the friendships that she has forged over the years. Lice is a story of human struggle, genuine curiosity, and the hardships that we all inevitably face throughout our lives.
Reminiscent of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, each and every young character in the film wears a uniform that is dark red. There’s no way that Writer-Director Vindhya Gupta developed this aspect of the film by accident, and it forces viewers to think about what this is meant to represent. Here’s my take:
Each and every one of these young girls is flawed, exhibiting something that makes them less than savory. One may not be as clean as others would like, one seems to judge the other girls based on their financial status, and another seems to struggle with telling the truth. Again, each of these girls possesses a quality that makes them less than ideal in terms of human decency. With each of them wearing a dark red jacket throughout the majority (or the entirety) of the film, viewers instantly become privy to the fact that they are inherently human. Lice is a wonderfully human endeavor, one that touches on many of the things that we often struggle to accept in both ourselves and others. Gupta is wonderful in bringing this sentiment to life, in allowing viewers to see and accept their own flaws, all while understanding that flaws in others don’t make them lesser.
For the most part Lice is a straight-forward film that doesn’t do too much to make viewers think. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing. On one hand, allowing viewers to sit back and easily absorb the content of Lice makes it easy for viewers to understand and accept the film and its message. On the other hand, however, there will be some that feel the film is too simplistic–and that being incapable of forcing viewers to think makes the film lesser in some capacity. I understand both points of view–but it seems that Gupta’s goal is to touch as many viewers as possible, and having Lice present a relatively simple narrative allows that to happen.
Other than nitpicking at things, I doubt there’s much that viewers can say negatively about Lice. In regard to the young talent (in particular), I can imagine that there are only good things to be said. There are a handful of young actors that grace the screen here, but Lice is led by the aforementioned Sharma and Chhabra. Not only are these two wonderfully capable of expressing emotion, their chemistry is simply impeccable. From start to finish these two young girls do everything that is asked of them and more. While there are some wonderful technical aspects that help to bring Lice to life, they are the lifeblood of an incredibly important film. They develop emotion, and they are ultimately the reason that Lice finds success.
I’m always intrigued by the first film that I watch from a particular festival, and this is my first of this year’s HollyShorts. Year after year this festival delivers, proving, again and again, why it’s one of my favorites. Lice sets the bar high–and I can’t wait to see what else this festival has in store.
Written & Directed by Vindhya Gupta.
Starring Perry Chhabra, Priyanshi Sharma, Vaishnavi Trivedi, Rishika Yadav, etc.
8.5/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING
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