13-year-old Melanie (Melanie Lenz) is sent to a very strict camp for overweight children where she grows feelings for a 40 years older doctor (Joseph Lorenz). The concluding part in Ulrich Seidl’s trilogy introduces the daughter of the woman in the first film, who is also the niece of the woman in the second. As in the other chapters, the eternal hunt for happiness becomes pointless and in this case the adult world repeatedly turns its back on children. Great cast of teenagers, and the film is quiet, provocative and sadly realistic. However, too often does it feel like we’re scratching the surface, which is typical for the whole trilogy.
2013-Austria-Germany-France. 92 min. Color. Directed by Ulrich Seidl. Cast: Melanie Lenz (Melanie), Verena Lehbauer (Verena), Joseph Lorenz (The Doctor), Viviane Bartsch, Michael Thomas, Maria Hofstätter.
Trivia: Original title: Paradies: Hoffnung. The other two films in the trilogy are Paradise: Love (2012) and Paradise: Faith (2012).
