Cairo Film Festival 2022 | Things Unsaid

In Things Unsaid, when a teenaged girl moves in with a married couple for a few days, she disturbs the fragility of their relationship and becomes the catalyst for its implosion.

Writer/director Eleonora Veninova is known for her award-winning short films, including Hairs, Fighting for Death, and The Sign. She makes her feature debut with Things Unsaid, which had its world premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival as part of the International Competition section.

Like many teenagers, seventeen-year-old Maya (Sara Klimoska) needs a break from her parents. She’s eager to assert her independence and step into adulthood (she turns eighteen in a week, as she constantly reminds everyone), and she can’t wait to prove that she’s ready when she shows up at the house of family friends Anna (Kamka Tocinovski) and Fillip (Blagoj Veselinov).

Anna and Fillip haven’t seen Maya in years but keep in touch with the teen’s parents. Anna is a photographer preparing her next exhibit, Fillip a psychology professor in the midst of writing a student textbook. As Maya easily inserts herself into their lives, she becomes infatuated with Anna and makes advances. When Anna rejects her, Maya flirts with Fillip in an attempt to make Anna jealous. Both adults are aware of Maya’s actions and although neither intend to reciprocate, it still causes friction between the couple.

Having a teenager in the home also brings up buried issues—things unsaid—between Anna and Fillip, particularly regarding the subject of having children of their own. We quickly catch on that Fillip wants to have children and Anna doesn’t, or at least isn’t sure. But it’s equally clear they haven’t discussed the matter honestly and have instead let things simmer unspoken between them.

The film explores the consequences of not communicating in a relationship. It posits that when things are hidden away or left unsaid, it builds cracks in the foundation and eventually takes a large toll on the relationship. Whether a couple can weather the storm once secret truths are exposed is another matter.

The three characters aren’t always the most empathetic, and we don’t particularly root for any of them. Nevertheless, the story is effective at introducing small narrative changes that alter our understanding of a character and allow us to better connect with their perspective.

The potential adult-and-underaged-teen affair trope was somewhat expected from the film’s synopsis, but thankfully the story toes the line and doesn’t delve into it too much — just enough to make us uncomfortable and add tension between the characters, as the film intends to do.

Maya’s character and her relationship with Anna and Fillip is also multi-faceted. She is presented as both a young woman looking to express her sexuality and also an errant child. Anna and Fillip also sometimes see her as the child they never had, all of which makes it more awkward when she flirts with the couple.

Things Unsaid gives thematic importance to Anna’s photography, including the different styles she uses to produce certain effects in her photos. The film itself is broken up into sections, or chapters, marked by a black-and-white photograph and the name of the style or effect used. One such example is the Sabattier effect, which has particular significance to both the narrative and the film’s underlying messages.

It’s very fitting that a film which emphasizes photography contains great cinematography. Shot in North Macedonia around Ohrid and Skopje during the summer, there are some idyllic lakeside shots that highlight Maya’s competing coming-of-age desires, namely wanting the freedom she associates with adulthood while simultaneously yearning to hold onto the playful nostalgia of childhood. The last few moments of the film are carefully choreographed and leave us reflecting on all that has transpired. It also prompts us to think of things unsaid in our own lives.