Direction: Leonie Krippendorff
Country: Germany
In Leonie Krippendorff’s debut feature, Cocoon, particular stages of youth that lead to sexual and emotional maturity are compared to the dragging caterpillar that slowly transforms and soon will be able to fly in freedom. The backdrop for the sensitive awakening brought by this coming-of-age drama is Berlin, where the timid 14-year-old Nora (Lena Urzendowsky) lives with her big sister, Jule (Lena Klenke). They often hang at parties, at school, and a bit everywhere around the vibrant Kreuzberg district, and their alcoholic mother, Vivienne (Anja Schneider) is more absent than present in their lives.
Alcohol and drugs among the school friends are frequent and considered normal, but what gets Nora confused is the sexual attraction she feels for girls and not for boys. She’s clearly into girls, but the process of learning through romantic relationships is not without pain and disappointment. The early crush on Romy (Jella Haase), an approachable new girl from another class, will help her track down and solidify the sense of identity she keeps looking for.
This summer lesbian romance is an immersive daydream of teenage girlhood into adulthood with all its highs and lows, and ends up more tactful than the usual fabrications of the genre. Yet, sometimes the film could have used a certain glow of poetry to enhance the protagonist’s perspective and candidness. Fortunately, the process of self-discovery depicted here is saved from sentimentality.
