Beyond Dreams ( Rojda Sekersoz, 2017): Sweden

Review by Breana Jimenez Viewed at The Santa Barbara Film Festival, 2018.

After getting out of prison Mirja is welcomed back into society but not her home. There is a lot of unresolved conflict between her and her mother. She’s all ready to reenter her life of crime but when she finds out her mother is sick with COPD she decides to grow up for her family. This doesn’t go over well between her crew who have been her family when no one else was around. Mirja is trying to do right by both families but sees no sympathy from either.

This movie is beautiful while really capturing the darker side to a redemption story and a mother-daughter relationship. I think the scene that sticks in my mind that truly encompassed this story and character was when Mirja was on the roof after she just got fired. She had been working so hard, been kicked out of her home and had no friends to turn to. She went onto a roof and was screaming her head off but the sound cut out and it is eerily silent. It really showed how alone she was and no one was there to see or help her in her pain.

This is a wonderful directing debut for Rojda Sekersoz the style and direction was so natural. Her movie is deceivingly simple and emotionally evoking.  I don’t have the life experiences as Mirja but all of the elements put me in her shoes. Rojda Sekersoz (director) and Johanna Emanuelsson (writer) created a character I was rooting for from start to finish.