Lioness

In the EFTA Award–winning film (the Estonian “Oscar”) by director Liina Triškina-Vanhatalo (Take It or Leave It, part of the 2019 “Northern Lights” program), maternal love becomes a tool of desperate control. Helena, a paramedic, struggles to save her 15-year-old daughter Stefi — a troubled teenager drawn to self-destructive behavior and bad company. When Stefi ends up in the hospital after a drug overdose, Helena kidnaps her from the ward and locks her in an old countryside house, believing this will “heal” their relationship. A painful psychological duel unfolds between mother and daughter, where care and violence intertwine. "Lioness" is an intense family drama about the limits of love, guilt, and the desperate attempt to rewrite the past at any cost.

Original language: Estonian

Siubtitles: Belarusian, English