CW: Discussions of Sexual assault follow
If you took a quick glimpse of Sascha (Victoria Carmen Sonne) basking in the sun in a fancy bikini on a lavish boat, you'd presume that she's living the ideal luxurious life. But Holiday makes it clear from the outset with a scene depicting one of her boyfriend's associated hitting her that her life is way more harrowing than that. Sascha is trapped in an abusive relationship with gangster Michael (Lai Yde) and writer/director Isabella Elkof is exploring her psyche and perspective during this relationship all throughout Holiday. This is not a story with a happy ending of a person escaping an abusive relationship, rather, it's a tale about the messy explanations for how and why the cycle of abuse continues onward.
Confronting such messy explanations in a head-on manner means that Holiday is an extremely difficult watch. It's made all the more harrowing by Elkof's shooting style that opts for prolonged single take with the camera positioned a great deal away from the characters. Through this camera placement, we get a subtle visual reinforcement of how this relationship has isolated Sascha from the rest of the world. The camera frequently makes Sascha as far away from the viewer in physical terms as she is from other characters in emotional terms. This is an idea communicated in a quietly powerful manner thanks to the meticulous way Elkof handles her camera, every movement of the camera here serves some kind of purpose.
This type of camerawork is especially noticeable in the most disturbing scene of the movie where Sasscha is raped on-screen by Michael. It's a sequence lasting roughly a minute framed in a wider shot without any cuts away from the repulsive action. Elkof's static but carefully considered camerawork certainly works in its intent in putting the repulsive behavior of abusive partners on full display, it's like the opposite approach master filmmakers like Lynne Ramsey or Yasujiro Ozu take in their own films where key moments of anguish are kept off-screen. I personally prefer this artistic approach when it comes to depicting real-world horrors and abuse and did wonder if maybe this more restrained style of filmmaking might have been a better method of execution for this specific sequence.
Such a thought especially crosses my mind considering instances of keeping stuff off-screen in Holiday, like one of Michael's associates getting roughed up or Sascha getting into a scooter accident, do work well in conveying tragedy to the viewer while maintaining the power of suggestion. On the other hand, utilizing such an approach for this specific sequence depicting sexual assault could have run counter to Elkof's entire artistic intent with this movie. Specifically, that intent entails portraying an unflinching depiction of the horrors people in abusive relationships suffer to counter how society (as represented by the supporting character Thomas) tends to ignore or minimize these experiences.
There's no chance of people like Thomas ignoring Sascha's plight when Elkof films this rape scene in such a frank manner and the fact that such a scene left such an impression on me certainly speaks to Isabelle Elkof's craftsmanship as a filmmaker. Holiday, of course, isn't just extended long takes and one scene of rape, though both those elements certainly factor heavily into its depiction of an abusive relationship. It's also a feature film where Victoria Carmen Sonne gets to show off her skills as a performer. Navigating a part all about the messy realities of being trapped in an abusive relationship is a daunting task for any performer so it's a testament to Sonne that her performance comes off as so natural and effortless.
Sonne's especially good at subtly conveying flashes of Sascha's own individual personality breaking through the stranglehold Michael has on her, it's these tiny pieces of her performance that help to make sure there are glimpses into who Sascha is beyond this toxic relationship. Thijs Romer also delivers noteworthy work in the supporting role of Thomas, he does good work in being believable as a kinder gentler lover for Sascha to find solace in while being equally believable later on in depicting that his character is just another toxic male figure in Sascha's life. Both Sascha's life and the movie she inhabits are wall-to-wall misery and it's understandable if some viewers opt to sit out such a trying viewing experience. But for those who can manage it, Isabelle Elkof's excellent filmmaking and Victoria Carmen Sonne's equally strong lead performance both help to make Holiday a hauntingly memorable depiction of being trapped in an abusive relationship.
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