The film's 17-year-old protagonist Ola (Zofia Stafiej), who comes from a small Polish town, must travel to Ireland to retrieve her father's body after he died in a construction site accident.
But never mind her estranged dad, Ola most of all wants to know if he was able to save money for the car he had promised.
Grappling with foreign red tape in her own spiky, street-smart way, Ola suddenly realises that her biggest dream was not a car, but getting to better know her dad who she had barely cared for.
This will turn out to be the trip of her lifetime on which she will try to reconnect with her estranged father and meet people who will change her approach to life.
“Throughout this journey, as Ola worms her way through bureaucracy and learns about who her father was, her edges are softened. Her coming-of-age feels full circle,” The Guardian wrote in a review published in the run-up to the UK/Ireland premiere.
The newspaper particularly praises Stafiej, calling her part a ”striking debut” and a “marvellous showcase" for her talent.
The Guardian also notes that the film ”acutely captures the plight of migrant workers, questioning the supposed homogeneity of contemporary Europe.”
I Never Cry, distributed in Poland as Jak najdalej stąd, won awards for best script (Piotr Domalewski), best music (Hania Rani) and best acting debut (Zofia Stafiej) at the 45th Polish Film Festival Gdynia in December.
The movie is a Polish-Irish co-production produced by Akson Studio. It was supported by the Polish Film Institute.
(mo/gs)
Source: The Guardian, culture.pl