Review of Una (2017) by Kapten V — 28 Jun 2017

A tale of forbidden love. The guy (Ben Mendelsohn) went to jail for it and started another life after that. The girl (Rooney Mara) still can't move on 15 years later, and confronts him. Also starring, Ruby Stokes and Riz Ahmed.

Does sex even mean anything in our day and age? It certainly does when it comes to taboos such as relations" between adult and minor - a story in the center of Una".

This particular topic may well be the most loaded of them all, which makes it difficult to even write about.

It's an uncomfortable experience for sure, not just beacause of the topic, but for raising burning questions that nobody wants to answer, at least not in public. Not us the viewers, not the movie makers - director Benedict Andrews and David Harrower who has written both the theatre play and then screenplay Una" is based on.

The actors are satisfying. Mara is better than her usual (eloquent and tormented as suitable for the role), Mendelsohn is great as usual (one of the best not quite famous character actors the UK has today)...

There is not much room for other major characters, but Stokes as young Una and Ahmed as the unwitting bystander brought into this mess are memorable too.

I think I like Stoke's performance even better than Mara's but comparision is unfair because I have never admired Mara's acting abilities anyway. This is the first time that I have truly respected her screen work, ever. Bold role, bold project.

The storytelling is, khm, less satisfying. Not only because of the uncomfortable topic and leaving much unanswered but overall approach is too artsy for my taste, so the movie has issues with pacing and holding tension. Una as a character would improve from additional development too.

All in all, it's certainly compelling but I think it would make a more powerful short movie lasting, say, 30 minutes instead of 94.