Trauma is a terrible thing. It’s not something you can outrun or escape from. It doesn’t matter how many years you bottle it up inside, it will suddenly resurface when you least expect it. You can close yourself off from the world, lock your emotions away, but unless you face up to it you will never be truly free. One woman revisits her past in When it Melts.
Eva (Charlotte De Bruyne) struggles to make friends. Now that her younger sister Tess (Femke Van der Steen) is moving out, she feels abandoned and alone. This wasn’t always the case. She used to be one of the ‘three musketeers’ in her (Rosa Marchant) childhood, but that all changed with the onset of adolescence. She decides to head back to her hometown to confront the past.
When It Melts is a powerful story of loneliness and trauma. It works so well thanks to an involving dual narrative of Eva in the present and as a 13-year-old, which allows her story to slowly unravel within two timeframes. While Veerle Baetens’s drama is difficult to watch at times, it’s expertly crafted and emotive. Making When It Melts a highly rewarding experience.
When It Melts screens at Sundance Film Festival.
