Beanpole – Film Review

A boring but emotionally moving drama about two women who want to survive physically and mentally in the Soviet Union after World War II. Beanstalk I am not going to give you the “happiness” but still deserve recognition.

Beanstalk follows an extra tall nurse (nicknamed Beanpole) who has had post-war PTSD attacks that cause her to faint at unexpected times. Unfortunately, this leads to her accidentally suffocating her roommate’s son, which in turn leads to an extortion program in which she “agrees” to be raped by her boss in order to have a surrogate child.

Happy in a really shitty, dark way.

Beanstalk continues from there in an unpredictable way, a story based on the strange and illogical actions of two women who were shaped by the war in two drastically different and terrifying ways. The third act doesn’t quite hit it because it doesn’t meet the expectations set early on, but it does Beanstalk is nevertheless a fascinating and complex character study.

Rating by Erik Samdahl, unless otherwise stated.