The Visitor is a comedic longing melancholy

  Troler
October 04, 2025

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#svecias thevisitor VytautasKatkus MarijaKavtaradze MarijaRazgute DariusŠilėnas StevenSoderbergh film review movies cinemastodon

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I do not remember ever walking out of a movie theater so content and happy with what I watched. This strange sensation, still tingling as I write down these words, further confuses me the fact it stemmed from a Lithuanian film. It could be said, the fact I watched a Lithuanian movie is the reason for the emotion. It seems what I am describing is a bit too abstract. Take this, imagine walking into a sauna expecting to relax from the steam. To your surprise, not only do you feel the steam embrace you, you have an additional massage. The cause behind such positive emotions is the movie "Svečias" (The visitor).

It is noteworthy, as it is the first feature-length movie by the young Lithuanian director Vytautas Katkus. After the premiere in the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the director was awarded the best director. For context, even Steven Soderbergh was a visitor in the aforementioned festival, not to say about the other prominent figures. Yes, the same Soderbergh mentioned in a recent BlenderDumbass' film review. With 10 years worth of film-making, the director, cinematographer and screenwriter has amassed quite a considerable experience. Since short movies are rarely if ever screened in movie theaters, I had to chance to watch any of his shorts. Together with screenwriter Marija Kavtaradzė and producer Marija Razgutė he made quite an impressive movie.

Plot wise, the movie is very simple. A Lithuanian emigrant Danielius, played by Darius Šilėnas, sells his recently deceased father's flat. That's the entire plot. All 110 minutes of it are a contemplation and meditation of the plot. In this sense the movie is similar to I am, due to its slower pacing. Where it lacks in action, it makes up in slice-of-life comedy and tear-squeezing scenery. Lithuanian cinema market is a spec in the larger European market. The top grossing Lithuanian film (The Southern Cronicles) made $3.7 million. Which is comparible to the Israel market, whose top grossing film of 2023 (Tatami) made $2 million in the box office. As such there is not much money for production. As the movie proves, that is not needed for quality cinema.

That is why it amazes me, this stupidly simple film was a technical marvel. The first shot in the entire movie is of a window. The shot after it is a window. 1 minute after, there is a giant mirror. On top of that, the characters walk off the screen, yet they still can be seen through the window. Darius Šilėnas is flexing real hard, not in a pretentious way. That's because shooting mirrors is risky, since you do not want the camera to appear in the shot. The first 10 minutes are filled with glass and mirrors. You even had a shot of the same giant mirror and a tiny mirror on a different wall. The shots themselves are simple. Lots of camera placed in a single spot and slowly turning. There are no drone shots, no crazy camera movement. This is not a Michael Bay movie.

What is Bay about it, is the scenery. I do not know how, but the director made the old Soviet block flats look cozy. Say in the random scene with a medical student, who from appearance should be the first patient, looks through the window to Danielius sit with a kid on a sidewalk. Even though shots are long, there is always some detail to look at. There are a lot and a lot of these "pointless" shots. Since the point of the movie is contemplate, they are necessary to induce relaxation. Say a scene with Danielius walking in a forest and then laying down to sleep.

What did not sleep were the children. A lot of children. Very young children. I could not count all of them, if I recall correctly, there were around 6 toddlers and a dog. Hopefully, the picture why the D. Šilėnas was nominated the best director, comes to be clear. The movie screening had as a guest the producer Marija Razgutė. Since the movie had a total of 20 or so people, it was quite easy to ask questions. Thus promptly I asked how did they manage to take care of the toddlers. She explained, the children had special trainers of sorts. One for choreography, other for acting and few emotional support women. These are 2-4 year olds! Children are acting throughout the entire movie. How does it feel for a 2 year old to be picked up by a stranger woman, brought to a beach and have a whole scene with her friends(?) rushing in, dancing and singing Tele Bim-Bam "VORAS" (it is a banger song).

The music, as explained by the producer, was chosen at the screen-writing process. That is to say, the songs had a deep tie to the plot... The plot about selling the flat? No, it is about the loss of a father figure. Which all relates to the favorite song of Danielius - Sexual Healing by the American singer Marvin Gaye. Not so much of the contents of the song, rather the context. Since M. Gaye wrote when living in Belgium, as a means of healing from his addiction and depression. After he fully rested and returned to his home, due to a domestic abuse, his father shot him. A parallel is drawn between the father the protagonist Danielius' loss. Which culminates when he asks his friend's father to adopt him as a son. When that scene came up, I was cringing to the floor. There were a lot of scenes, causing me to laugh and wheeze. The acting done by the friend's father (Arvydas Dapšys) was splendid. Not surprising, considering he is a seasoned Lithuanian actor. For Danielius, coming back to his home-town operates like a therapy session. In this tiny town of Šventoji is his hometown, it is his island. OH THE ISLAND!!!

I wrote about all the aspects of the movie, except for the most important one, the island. The director build an artificial island in the Baltic sea. Sure, there are islands in the Baltic sea, yet none in Lithuania. The island was built near the border of Latvia. As the producer said, they had to ask the permission from the national environment agency, border patrol, Šventoji city and the god of water and sea Neptūnas. As luck would have it, during the filming the weather was calm and it was quite hot. What were not hot, were all the oil rig workers, divers and the lifeguards. There were lifeguards throughout the shooting as well. Since the director insisted on a scene with a toddler... playing... on the island with his mother.

That feeling, the sensation of content and bliss. I found the source of it! This emotion, similar that of leaving a sauna after a massage, stems from satisfaction of knowing the labor that went into the making of a film. Since I enjoyed it, look up a film festival near you, it may screen "The Visitor". If not, try contacting them and sending them a message, encouraging to invite the Vytautas Katkus. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Fin.

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c:0 @blenderdumbass
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  Blender Dumbass c:0



Hmm... this was a throwaway reference to Soderbergh. And you made a throwaway reference to Soderbergh referencing a throwaway reference to Soderbergh by me. LOL

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  Blender Dumbass c:1



There was a whole flex with Darren Aronofsky on Black Swan. He specifically pointed the camera at the mirrors in such a way that the camera would be there. And them some poor VFX artist had to paint it out.

Lars Von Trier in Nymphomaniac Volume 2 pointed a camera at a mirror too. In that movie, he kept the camera prominently visible in the mirror.

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