With a little more background on Slovakia's communist regime, it would be a bit clearer what is going on, from the bizarre tradition of publicly throwing water at women to the reason why Perla was in danger of being arrested in her native country, but I wasn't too bothered by the lack of this information. Not everything always has to be spelled out. The fact that Perla doesn't always make smart choices can be frustrating for the viewer, but it is realistic. Perla is just a human being and makes wrong choices. I found it all quite moving, and well acted. The daughter in the story was very touching and played her part convincingly.

[IFFR '25] There are two interesting elements in the story of a woman torn between the stability of her life in Austria and her return to communist Czechoslovakia: on the one hand, it establishes the historical context without placing it at the centre of the story. So the characters don't talk about politics, but are swept along by the influence of the political environment. And the protagonist is not portrayed as a victim despite the attitudes of a patriarchal and sexist society, in which humiliating traditions remain, but rather she has the strength to face these situations with dignity.