London Film Festival 2024 – April ★★★

Released: TBC (London Film Festival)

Director: Déa Kulumbegashvili

Starring: Ia Sukhitashvili, Kakha Kintsurashvili, Merab Ninidze

Earlier this year, April won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. For a movie that hardly anyone had mentioned or even heard of in the first half of 2024 – probably because of the delay in the release date for this project – this definitely took me by surprise and only heightened my interest in it. It all becomes the more fascinating when we consider that this is the sophomore feature of Déa Kulumbegashvili, whose previous film Beginning attracted plenty of attention both in terms of award season and general critics reactions.

Set in rural Georgia, April follows Nina (Ia Sukhitashvili), an obstetrician who is very devoted to her profession, so much so that it overtakes every other aspect of her life. At the beginning of the film, Nina is under intense scrutiny in every aspect as part of the accusation she is facing after the death of a newborn at the hospital she works at. Despite the investigation and significant risk, Nina continues to perform her duties, including the illegal abortions nobody else is willing to do in the village.  

From a purely storyline wise point of view, April is perfectly fine. The stakes are enormous as Nina is continuing to do her job – or what she perceives to be her job, no matter how much others may disagree – at a great personal risk. But as the film goes on, we can’t even question why she does it, the reason is clear: if she – a qualified woman who knows what she is doing – does not help these women, who will? It is a powerful critique to all the countries who have been going backwards in terms of abortion rights and limiting women’s choice and freedom. In this sense, it not only works but is also extremely necessary.

However, the momentum and resonance that such a story could have is ultimately hurt by some stylistic choices that won’t be for everyone. The film’s overall pacing is very odd: while the story is well-structured, the film is ultimately too slow. April does not even necessarily allow us time to absorb the story in, instead it seems to constantly bombard its audience with overly long shots of the surrounding area that we see far too often and for far too long. Whilst the cinematography here is impressive and undoubtedly beautiful to look at, they do very little to move the story along and only becomes frustrating after awhile.

While there is a lot of value to be found in slow cinema generally speaking, I am not even sure April qualifies as slow cinema to begin with. I also wish the film had taken a much stronger stance on abortion as it is a movie produced and released in a day and age in which women’s reproductive rights are under threat across the world. Instead, the film remains strangely neutral, leaving perhaps too much to the audience’s own interpretation. While the main storyline undoubtedly paints this woman as a heroine, and rightfully so, the absurdist and nightmarish sequences are instead very ambiguous in portraying her as a monster-like figure.

Overall, it is an important film given the subject matter and storyline, but one that could be much tighter and stronger in its storytelling to appeal to a wider amount of viewers once it does come out in theatres beyond the film festival circuit. While it probably wasn’t me. There may be an audience out there who will find April to be the film for them, appreciating its long shots and slow pace a lot more than I did as the film is an undoubtedly well made piece of cinema.