Lithuania is not a country renowned for its horror films. Whilst other countries across Europe such as Spain, France, and Germany have been churning genre films out for years, Lithuania has been rather quiet. Of the few horror movies that the country is responsible for, none of them adhere to the structure of what is arguably one of the most popular formats – the slasher. Finally though, someone has been brave enough, and Jonas Trukanas’ feature debut, Pensive, marks the first to take a stab at the popular sub-genre.
The central story joins a group of graduating teens as they have a blow-out party in the middle of the woods. Before that though, Pensive takes its time in setting up the cast of characters. Beginning at their graduation ceremony, the audience is introduced – in varying levels – to key classmates, the most important of these being Marius (Sarunas Rapolas Meliesius). Marius is the quiet, shy guy of the class. Somewhat of a ghost, he exists on the periphery of the group, only his best friend Vytas (Povilas Jatkevicius) is stopping him from being a complete social pariah. His situation isn’t any better on the home front; his mother is almost oblivious to his existence, focussing all her attention on work, and his father practically worships one of Marius’ more popular classmates. As if his father championing another child wasn’t bad enough, said peer, Rimas (Kipras Masidlauskas), is dating the object of Marius’ affection, Brigita (Gabija Bargailaite). These dynamics are set up within the first few moments, but are vital to set-up for what comes later.
As excited as the teens are to graduate, they are even more buoyant about their forthcoming end of school party. Rimas has found the perfect luxury property, but in the eleventh hour, the venue is revealed to be a scam. With everyone, including Brigita deflated, Marius sees an opportunity to change his fate. He steals some keys from his real estate agent mother and invites everyone to a remote cabin. Whilst it’s a little back to basics, there is plenty of woodland and fields for the teens to revel in. There is one catch though…the building once belonged to a man who butchered his whole family…. Undeterred, Marius and his classmates forge on, but the uncovering of some sinister wood carved figures leads to unexpected and violent consequences.
The trouble begins when one of the wooden creations ends up as kindling, the incident summoning a homicidal maniac intent on butchering the group. Once it gets to the bloodshed, Pensive doesn’t hold back. An early kill involving a sauna is cruel and confronting, but it’s a buffet of carnage as the killer hacks his way through most of the group at once that really stays with the viewer. In a strange way, much of the set-up and violence shares a kinship with Battle Royale. As the surviving teens scatter, relationships are tested, allegiances formed, and true colours revealed. Of the group, Marius remains the most interesting and certainly offers a final boy with a difference.
Billed as the first Lithuanian slasher, Pensive is not entirely the genre film one would expect from that mantle. The slasher genre is synonymous with scantily clad women and promiscuous teens getting hacked to pieces, and whilst Pensive has elements of that, it is a very different creation. Perhaps steeped closer to folk horror thanks to the weird wooden figures, Jonas Trukanas’ feature film debut is a heady mixture of the two popular genres, that despite its warring influences, sticks together quite well.
Pensive
Summary
A slasher film with a difference, Pensive borrows intrigue from the folk horror to create a rather formidable first attempt at the juggernaut genre.
Pensive was reviewed at FrightFest Glasgow 2023.
