January 3, 2026
FILM: LITTLE TROUBLE GIRLS
DIRECTED BY: URSKA DJUKIC
STARRING: JARA SOPFIJA OSTAN, MINA SVAJGER, SASA TABAKOVIC
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Little Trouble Girls opens with a shot of a painting that clearly symbolizes a vagina. The following is a close-up a girl’s ear. Her name is Lucia and she is about to have a sexual awakening and a better sense of who she is as a young woman. Lucia is 16 years-old and also about to attend an all-girl choir where she’ll, metaphorically, begin to understand her own voice. The film, from Slovenian filmmaker Urska Djukic is a very close examination of this one girl and the conflicting messages and temptations that appear around her. It’s sensitively done as perhaps only a female director could. It isn’t trying to take any major emotional swings but instead peers into a girl’s natural growth into womanhood.
Jara Sophija Ostan stars as Lucia, who initially comes off as a bit shy and somewhat withdrawn. With the bulk of her hair pulled back and bangs that cover a portion of her face, Lucia stands in contrast to another girl in the choir, Ana-Maria who has a long flowing mane and lips covered in deep red lipstick. Lucia becomes mesmerized by Ana-Maria who is clearly very open and adventurous. Ana-Maria smiles at Lucia in a soft yet seductive manner. Soon Lucia is part of her clique and something of a friendship develops. The girls tease each other and play a game of truth or dare which brings their discussions of sex and boys to the forefront. They also stare at the workers who are completing a construction job at the convent. Lucia seems simultaneously fascinated by both Ana-Maria and the men. Who she is sexually at this point in her life is not known even to her. However, her gazing suggests that she is still at a stage of exploring and finding herself as a sexual woman.
Djukic’s shots of the young women are all very tight, emphasizing their physical and emotional closeness. The men, and there are very few of them in major roles in the film, are mostly shot from a distance suggesting that they are a mystery to the girls. At one point, Lucia thinks she sees a naked man at the bottom of a bridge. As her own sense of self grows, he does come very close to her revealing his manly body and handsome face. However, there’s still a lot of confusion within Lucia as she confesses to her choir teacher that she thinks it is Ana-Maria who is in love with her.
Some might assume that by the age of 16 Lucia might be more aware of herself than she is. However, we do find out early on that her mother doesn’t approve of lipstick and turns a TV channel that obviously features a couple having sex. Lucia comes from something of an oppressive household, one that clearly upholds the importance of virginity in young girls.
The film is filled with images of the Virgin Mary. At one point, a statue of her has accidently lost one of her hands thanks to a worker’s ladder bumping into it. Is this suggesting that purity is fragile? As mentioned earlier, the other common visual motif is that of flowers in bloom. At one point a bee enters one that is close-up. Lucia will also pleasure herself for the first time. Later, after Lucia has been scolded and dismissed from choir practice, she symbolically enters a cave which, perhaps over obviously, implies that she is continuing to discover herself as a woman.
By the end of the film, Lucia has explored “finding her voice” and has sampled the different fruits surrounding her. She looks freer, including letting her hair down, and much more fulfilled as a young woman.
Yes, the film abounds with metaphors and sexual imagery, but I think it is all handled with artful good taste. It’s a quiet film with sparse dialogue but rich in its ideas as we poke inside a blossoming girl’s head.
Little Trouble Girls is now playing in limited theatrical release, including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.
FILM: LITTLE TROUBLE GIRLS
DIRECTED BY: URSKA DJUKIC
STARRING: JARA SOPFIJA OSTAN, MINA SVAJGER, SASA TABAKOVIC
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Little Trouble Girls opens with a shot of a painting that clearly symbolizes a vagina. The following is a close-up a girl’s ear. Her name is Lucia and she is about to have a sexual awakening and a better sense of who she is as a young woman. Lucia is 16 years-old and also about to attend an all-girl choir where she’ll, metaphorically, begin to understand her own voice. The film, from Slovenian filmmaker Urska Djukic is a very close examination of this one girl and the conflicting messages and temptations that appear around her. It’s sensitively done as perhaps only a female director could. It isn’t trying to take any major emotional swings but instead peers into a girl’s natural growth into womanhood.
Jara Sophija Ostan stars as Lucia, who initially comes off as a bit shy and somewhat withdrawn. With the bulk of her hair pulled back and bangs that cover a portion of her face, Lucia stands in contrast to another girl in the choir, Ana-Maria who has a long flowing mane and lips covered in deep red lipstick. Lucia becomes mesmerized by Ana-Maria who is clearly very open and adventurous. Ana-Maria smiles at Lucia in a soft yet seductive manner. Soon Lucia is part of her clique and something of a friendship develops. The girls tease each other and play a game of truth or dare which brings their discussions of sex and boys to the forefront. They also stare at the workers who are completing a construction job at the convent. Lucia seems simultaneously fascinated by both Ana-Maria and the men. Who she is sexually at this point in her life is not known even to her. However, her gazing suggests that she is still at a stage of exploring and finding herself as a sexual woman.
Djukic’s shots of the young women are all very tight, emphasizing their physical and emotional closeness. The men, and there are very few of them in major roles in the film, are mostly shot from a distance suggesting that they are a mystery to the girls. At one point, Lucia thinks she sees a naked man at the bottom of a bridge. As her own sense of self grows, he does come very close to her revealing his manly body and handsome face. However, there’s still a lot of confusion within Lucia as she confesses to her choir teacher that she thinks it is Ana-Maria who is in love with her.
Some might assume that by the age of 16 Lucia might be more aware of herself than she is. However, we do find out early on that her mother doesn’t approve of lipstick and turns a TV channel that obviously features a couple having sex. Lucia comes from something of an oppressive household, one that clearly upholds the importance of virginity in young girls.
The film is filled with images of the Virgin Mary. At one point, a statue of her has accidently lost one of her hands thanks to a worker’s ladder bumping into it. Is this suggesting that purity is fragile? As mentioned earlier, the other common visual motif is that of flowers in bloom. At one point a bee enters one that is close-up. Lucia will also pleasure herself for the first time. Later, after Lucia has been scolded and dismissed from choir practice, she symbolically enters a cave which, perhaps over obviously, implies that she is continuing to discover herself as a woman.
By the end of the film, Lucia has explored “finding her voice” and has sampled the different fruits surrounding her. She looks freer, including letting her hair down, and much more fulfilled as a young woman.
Yes, the film abounds with metaphors and sexual imagery, but I think it is all handled with artful good taste. It’s a quiet film with sparse dialogue but rich in its ideas as we poke inside a blossoming girl’s head.
Little Trouble Girls is now playing in limited theatrical release, including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.