Blue My Mind: Mythical Fantasy or Teenage Reality?

 

‘Sometimes I can't believe you’re my daughter either' – Gabriela

After changing school in the middle of the year Mia struggles to fit in while also dealing with her body changing.

 When I read the tagline of a ‘normal teenage girl faces overwhelming body transformations’, this is definitely not what I expected. I assumed I’d be watching a coming of age about a teenager trying to fit in and potential falling in love. Instead Brühlmann uses the medium of teenage struggles to play with supernatural ideas.

Watching Mia react to her body changing in ways, which at first seemed mundane, made me think Mia was going crazy. And after watching her shove her hand in a fish tank to catch and eat a goldfish, I feel this is a logical reaction.

I don’t know what it is with European films and raw meat. The French film RAW (2016) has a much more concerning portrayal of its protagonist’s urge to eat uncooked meat, which I just couldn’t sit through. The role of raw meat in Blue My Mind is less central but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t uncomfortable.

I was uncomfortable watching Mia scream in agony at each new change to her body. In tandem I was worried about her, as she was altering who she was to match the people she was around. Desperately wanting to fit in with her peers, Mia joined them in their cocktail of criminal offences - stealing, drugs and underage drinking. All of this just increased my concern for her.

Mia’s behaviour, bodily changes, and her emotive reaction to them were difficult to watch, probably as much as they were for her to deal with. This is what makes Luna Wedler’s performance one to be applauded. She displayed such mature themes in a way that elicited such visceral reactions of discomfort for me, yet I was invested and I still wanted to keep watching to make sure things turned out well for her.

A lot of the scenes director and writer Lisa Brühlmann created, were without dialogue, using solely action and diegetic sound. This intensified everything we could see. The unspoken words between Mia and her parents. Mia's fear and bad behaviour, taken as cries for help as she continued to uncover more parts of her body she didn’t like.  

Through all her transformations it does seem that she made a genuine friend in Gianna who, in the end, does whatever she can to help Mia. She does, however, accept the truth way too quickly when she discovers what her new friend has become. But maybe that’s because she feels indebted to Mia.

The two became fast friends and were becoming safe havens for one another and from the poster I saw I assumed the two falling in love would be the main focus. There are glimpses of their blossoming love throughout but, Blue my Mind is really all about Mia.

In some ways it can be seen as a coming of age film as Mia does evolve but not in a way anyone could’ve predicted. 

For a raw and emotive look at teenage struggles with something deeper behind them watch this but it is a lot to deal with.