-Written by Kyle Bain.
2024 HOLLYSHORTS FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!
The Professional Parent follows Ingrid (Ela Lehotská), a mother living in a small village in Slovakia. She struggles to make ends meet, but when she sees an opportunity to make some extra money, she jumps at the opportunity. The Roma population is frowned upon in Ingrid’s hometown, but she decides to adopt a young Roma girl in order to receive help from the government. This creates unrest and unbalance within her home, and it’s up to Ingrid to right the ship.
The Professional Parent is a relatively straightforward narrative that explores poverty and the lengths that people go to in order to make ends meet and provide for themselves and their families. The Professional Parent explores multiple aspects of Ingrid’s life and does an effective job of putting viewers in the shoes of those impoverished individuals present in this small Slovakian town. The film is effectively immersive, and I feel that it becomes incredibly easy early on to understand and appreciate the characters in the film (and the story as a whole).
What works best in this regard is the use of dull, dark tones. These tones permeate the entirety of the film and work to reel in viewers and express, with greatness, the purpose of this film and the way in which Ingrid would be feeling throughout. I think most viewers are able to understand the struggle that Ingrid experiences–at least to a degree. We’ve likely all been in a place where, even if we aren’t completely broke, we are forced to be frugal with what funds we do have. We will likely all get that when watching The Professional Parent, but I’m not sure that many of us have been in a financial situation quite as extreme as what Ingrid faces here. The dark, powerful tones that exist throughout make it easier to appreciate Ingrid’s struggles, to better understand all that she faces in The Professional Parent.
There’s a tone of narrative depth to The Professional Parent, however, beyond the use of darkness to express Ingrid’s story, I’m not sure that there’s much physical depth present in the film. This isn’t to say that the film isn’t well done, I’m just not sure that much other than that aforementioned use of darkness works to reel viewers into the film. In fact, there were moments when Director of Photography Tudor Mircea settles for longer shots, ones that take us out of the narrative and far from Ingrid–the focus of The Professional Parent. I wouldn’t say that you’re aggressively ripped from the film, but the fact of the matter is that you’re temporarily removed nonetheless, and that often hindered my ability to really dive into the film.
The Professional Parent is sort of a roller coaster ride. That is so in the sense that emotion is heavily present throughout, and there’s a good chance that viewers will be able to appreciate the dark, debilitating emotions that Ingrid faces throughout. This is also the case because we are sort of pulled in and out of the narrative as a result of some of the choices regarding the cinematography. I feel that The Professional Parent is ultimately successful in its attempts to resonate with viewers, but there are some tweaks that needed to be made in order for it to peak as I had hoped.
Written & Directed by Erik Jasan.
Starring Ela Lehotská, Oĺga Solárová, Klára Sviteková, Marianna Kroková, Andrej Šoltés, etc.
7.5/10 = WATCH IT FOR FREE
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