Perla

Perla, a gifted painter with an equally talented musician daughter, is living comfortably in early 1980s Vienna when she receives a call that rejuvenates ghosts from her past in communist Czechoslovakia, and she must risk everything in order to move on with her life.

In early 1980s Vienna, an artist and single mother, Perla rebuilt her life with her daughter, Julia, and her partner, Josef, a Tibetologist. Living in exile, she has tried to leave behind the traumas of her youth in communist Czechoslovakia. But when Julia’s father, Andrej, contacts her unexpectedly to say he is gravely ill, Perla risks crossing the border back into her homeland. Pulled between past and present, she begins to make reckless choices that jeopardise her freedom and strain her relationship with Julia.

Alexandra Makarová’s Perla is a quietly powerful portrait of identity and resilience, set against the tensions of the Cold War. Through its classically structured narrative, the film reveals the emotional cost of navigating patriarchal systems and the lingering violence of totalitarian rule. At its heart is Perla’s bond with her daughter, a relationship shaped by love, history, and the weight of unspoken fears. George Weiss’ cinematography underscores the contrast between Austria’s gilded surfaces and Czechoslovakia’s muted oppression. Anchored by Rebeka Poláková’s captivating performance as Perla and Simon Schwarz’s nuanced turn as Josef, Perla captures the tension and fragility of a life balanced between hope and self-destruction.

– Vanja Kaludjercic

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