This is Dasha Nekrasova’s show. Her ability to exist within this space and give substance to someone so flagrantly superficial makes everything worthwhile (like a Lost in Translation Scarlett Johansson with the wistful innocence removed).

This bohemian hipster bed-hopping fiasco is held together tenuously by Dasha Nekrasova’s bewitching performance as Charlotte. Like a Lost in Translation Scarlett Johansson with the wistful innocence removed, Charlotte manipulates, cajoles and selfishly exploits those around her as coffee lounge poetry readings and disaffected characters cross paths in modern day Berlin exchanging pleasantries.

Charlotte delivers internal monologues in between interactions with flatmates, jealous ex-boyfriends and current bedfellows before bemoaning her own poor choices. She is completely unlikeable yet engagingly apathetic. Self-interest for her is a lifestyle rather than personal choice somehow giving her substance beneath the allure of moral bankruptcy. Unfortunately writer director Jordan Blady invests so much effort in his central protagonist that those around her fail to spark in quite the same way.

Millennial overtones saturate their social circle whether they are sleeping together or not. An inherent lack of empathy or interest in each other is only underlined by the fragmentary narrative. It feels like Shallow Grave with the volume turned down. Christian Huck’s cinematography gives the film an uplifting urban feel at odds with the apathetic experience, while Aaron Short injects his score with Eurotrash undertones.

This world exists inside a bubble of bohemian parties, art gallery installations and conversations over lines of speed. Even when the plot takes a distinctly left turn this haze of laissez faire indifference continues while crimes go unpunished. Atmosphere wins out over substance in a film which is aiming for arthouse yet leans more towards the mainstream in appeal. That Softness of Bodies offers up no sense of closure also goes some way to underlining this message.

Performances from this ensemble are solid enough while the writing never moves much beyond stereotype. Johannes Frick and Morgan Krantz do well with the screen time they are given as flatmate and ex-boyfriend respectively, but it remains Nekrasova’s show throughout. Her ability to exist within this space and give substance to someone so flagrantly superficial makes everything worthwhile.

Written by Martin Carr

Directed by: Bob Dawson

Written by: Michael Shaw

Starring: Jerry Ehman, Karen O’Neil, Seth Shostak

Released: 2017 / Genre: Documentary

Country: USA / IMDB

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Softness of Bodies was released onto the various digital streaming platforms (Amazon, InDemand, Vimeo on Demand, DirecTV, FlixFling, Vudu, FANDANGO, Hoopla + Slight/Dish).