The Blessing

The Danish debutant Heidi Maria Faisst makes her film looks so simple with the aid of the amazing leading lady Lærke Winther, but it is anything but. She tackles a bone fide medical problem, and turns it into a universal human drama. More important: she turns it into film. Subtly using all the means at her disposal, from the colour palette to the convincing details in the young mother's life, the viewer is sucked into the dangerous mental state of the protagonist.
The title refers to the general idea that young motherhood should be one of the most beautiful things in a woman's life. That is how Katrine's family think about it, but what if she thinks differently? Katrine fails to get an emotional bond with her baby, her body hurts and she feels strange. When her boyfriend Andreas has to go to Amsterdam for his work, she finds out that her new role as mother does not suit her, almost at the cost of her baby. When her mother, with whom she has a difficult relationship, comes to her and the baby's aid, it turns out to be difficult for both of them.
The Blessing is the first feature by Faisst, who previously impressed with her short films. Based on her own screenplay, she shows psychological decline during postnatal depression and the impossibility of two people getting closer together even if, or precisely because, they are also mother and daughter. (GT)