The Adamant Girl

P. S. Vinothraj's 2024 Tamil film is a single day's journey. A family believes their daughter is possessed and decides to take her to their clan deity to be cured; in fact all she has done is love a man from another caste and refuse to speak to those opposing it. Along the road the family, her betrothed and their relatives are crammed into the same vehicle, and arguments, silences and small acts of violence accumulate in that narrow space. Meena, played by Anna Ben, says almost nothing, and all the film's force is in that silence. Rather than attacking superstition directly, Vinothraj shows what it is for where women are concerned. It had its world premiere in the Forum section of the Berlin Film Festival. Who it's for: viewers who like slow, realistic Indian cinema about social coercion. Who it's not for: anyone wanting dialogue and plot; the film advances almost entirely through looks and distances.