Murina (2021)
There is a particular kind of coming-of-age film that uses landscape as emotional shorthand, and Murina is very much in that tradition. Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović's debut feature is set almost entirely on and around a small Croatian island in the Adriatic, a place of sunlit water and heavy, still air that feels less like paradise and more like a pressure cooker with nowhere to go. The story circles around Julija, a teenage girl trapped between a domineering father and the unexpected arrival of his old friend, a wealthy outsider whose presence shifts the family's already uneasy balance of power. It is the kind of drama that locates its tension in what people do not say and what they cannot leave, which puts it comfortably alongside other festival favourites that use remote or sun-soaked settings to amplify domestic claustrophobia. If you have enjoyed films in a similar register, Macca's review of Tiger Stripes covers comparable territory around female adolescence and the body, and is well worth a look before or after.
Kusijanović built the film from a short she made in 2019, also called Murina, which won a Jury Award at Cannes. The feature version went on to claim the Caméra d'Or at Cannes 2021, the prize awarded to the best first film in competition, which is no small thing. The production is a genuinely international affair, with co-production credits spread across Croatia, Slovenia, Brazil, and the United States. The Brazilian connection is not incidental: Murina was produced through RT Features, the São Paulo-based outfit behind a string of well-regarded art-house productions, and Sikelia Productions, the company belonging to Martin Scorsese, who serves as executive producer. That association lends the film a certain profile, though Kusijanović's vision is her own, and the Scorsese stamp feels more like a vote of confidence than an editorial hand. The budget was modest by any mainstream measure, which is part of why the film leans so hard into performance and location rather than any kind of spectacle, a trade-off that suits the material well.
The cast is a mix of established regional talent and one notably international name. Gracija Filipović carries the film as Julija, and it is worth knowing this is her screen debut, a fact that makes her performance all the more remarkable given what the role demands physically and emotionally. Danica Ćurčić and Leon Lučev play her parents, both well-known in Croatian theatre and film, and they bring a coiled, worn-in quality to a couple who have clearly been fighting the same fight for years. Then there is Cliff Curtis, the New Zealand actor of Māori descent who has built a career out of playing morally ambiguous men with real surface charm. His presence here is a neat piece of casting, the wealthy outsider who is both a genuine threat and a genuine temptation, and Curtis has the kind of easy, unhurried screen presence that makes that tension feel natural rather than schematic. For those who have followed Macca's reviews of ensemble-driven dramas, his piece on Call Me by Your Name touches on some of the same themes of desire, power imbalance, and sun-saturated European settings.
I recently sat down to watch Murina, directed by Antoneta Alamat Kušanović and executive produced by none other than Martin Scorsese. It’s a tense, sun-drenched drama about a deeply dysfunctional family trying to sell off their island property to the father’s wealthy old associate.
It’s got that Scorsese-backed indie prestige feel, and for the most part, it delivers a really solid, atmospheric experience. The story is genuinely good, keeping you engaged with the claustrophobic family dynamics and the looming, uncomfortable reality of the land deal.
The acting across the board is excellent, but Cliff Curtis is absolutely the standout for me. He plays that wealthy, old friend with a charming but unsettling edge, and he commands every scene he's in. But that’s not to downplay Gracija Filipović, who is just amazing in her debut role as the titular Murina. She captures that teenage rebellion and quiet desperation perfectly. I also really loved a specific visual touch Kušanović uses: the transition between Murina wearing a white bathing suit to a blue one and back again. It’s a brilliant, subtle way to highlight her changing sense of self and coming-of-age without needing a single line of heavy-handed exposition.
The soundtrack is cracking, the coastal cinematography is gorgeous, and the core narrative does exactly what it needs to do. So where are the flaws? Well, while all the individual ingredients are top-tier, the film occasionally struggles to boil them all together into something truly transcendent. It’s a very good, well-crafted coming-of-age drama, but it sometimes feels like it’s hovering just on the edge of greatness without quite taking that final, definitive leap to make it an absolute must-see classic.
Murina is a really good film with a fantastic central performance and some lovely, thoughtful directorial touches. It’s a solid watch that proves Antoneta Alamat Kušanović is a talent to keep an eye on, even if this particular outing doesn't quite hit the masterpiece mark. It’s well worth your time, especially if you're after a tense, beautifully shot family drama.
Murina sits in a well-populated corner of contemporary European cinema, polished but unremarkable in its ambitions on paper, yet elevated by the people in front of and behind the camera. It is a film that rewards patience and attention to small gestures, the kind of work that confirms a filmmaker's instincts without yet revealing their full range. Kusijanović has shown she understands how to use a camera, how to use a face, and how to use silence. Whether her next film pushes into something bolder is the interesting question. For now, this one is a confident, sun-bleached calling card. Not every debut needs to be a masterpiece. Some just need to make you want to see what comes next.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2021 | Watched: 2026-06-11
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Murina (2021) on YouTube
Where to watch
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