2025-03-19

Vilnius review: All In (2025)

Marina D. Richter
Festivals, Kino Pavasaris, Shorts /0 Comments

Kino Pavasaris
National Shorts Competition

Can you ever trust the information provided by someone on dating apps? Is it a good idea to embellish one’s profile in the first place? And where do you move after finding out the person you knew only through chats is someone slightly different? Those questions are central to Klaudija Matvejevaite’s short drama All Inclusive, which screens in the national competition of Kino Pavasaris in Vilnius.

Emilie (Zygimante Elena Jakstaite) goes on her first date with Juozas (Sarunas Zenkevicius), accompanied by her friend Monika, out of insecurity or fear of what awaits her. The not-yet-couple has probably matched over some dating platform; they barely know each other, and the place they are headed is anything but romantic. On the other hand, Juozas chose it due to one of Emile’s white lies.

Each character in the movie struggles to find words to express themselves in a tense attempt at honest dialogue. When moments of truth occur, they come with faces twisted in regretful, shy grimaces. The three young people represent the generation trapped between the legacy of their parents and the imposing rules of contemporary communication, which erased the acoustic conversation in favour of written coded messages. The space around them feels strangely empty before they are put in a situation that unmasks dishonesty. The streets of nocturnal Vilnius echo with silence, sunken in darkness, and this eerie absence of other signs of human or animal life propels the story towards a place that couldn’t be more different.

It is in the vibrant illegal party venue that the companions must leave their comfort zones once their guard is off. Emilie and Juozas are on one of those catastrophic first dates many of us dreaded or still do. And yet, All Inclusive is not a sad story. The falling out is undramatic, although not uneventful, which could have been a fantastic concept for the film if the script were meatier and the dialogues were better written. The potential lovers come across as lifeless puppets as if pulled by invisible strings to move, speak and react.

Suppose the former example contradicted the saying that less is more. In that case, the representation of the party scene that gathers youth who enjoy gambling and getting involved in jam sessions at the same time, while none of them seem to know what to do with the many instruments scattered around a mini stage, proves it right again.