A Dutch girl of Bosnian descent travels to Bosnia to visit her sick father. It will be the first time they will see each other.

‘Take Me Somewhere Nice’ (no relation to the Mogwai song as far as I’m aware!) is a promising debut feature from Netherlands based Bosnian director Ena Sendijarević, telling the story of a teenage girl in some part based on her younger self. The film is a coming of age road movie about Alma (Sara Luna Zoric), a young girl who travels from the Netherlands to Bosnia to see her father before he dies. She hasn’t met her father before, nor has she been back to the country of her birth since she left, and the journey she embarks on is both one of self-discovery, and one of reconnecting with a country she only has the loosest connection with in the present day.

Alma arrives to be greeted by her cousin, who her mother has arranged to drive her to visit her father in the rural hospital he is currently staying in, and his indifference is the first sign that Alma is in a world very different to what she is used to. In an early scene, she meets one of her cousin’s friends and an attraction develops, which carries forward and creates tension as the trio embark on a road trip through the country towards the hospital where her father is. The film is well filmes, with some great shots of the Bosnian countryside, and in the three leads, there’s an uneasy chemistry that adds weight to the way the dynamic between them all starts to change. Alma isn’t necessarily an easy person to relate too and she’s called out by the other characters, but through Sara Luna Zoric’s performance she feels relatable as someone young exploring their boundaries and a new environment.

I wasn’t fully taken by the film and some of the narrative developments didn’t engage me, but I did enjoy it and at a well-paced 90 minutes, it doesn’t outstay its welcome. ‘Take Me Somewhere Nice’ is an offbeat coming of age film that takes its central character on a journey of self discovery, and whilst not essential, it’s an enjoyable debut from Ena Sendijarević.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Ena Sendijarević

Starring: Sara Luna Zoric, Lazar Dragojevic and Ernad Prnjavorac

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt8567342/