This week I caught the last film in the 2015 winter series of the Kamloops Film Society. Despite the gentle encouraging from Jon Fulton this is only the second Film Society showing I got to see.

But this one so worth it.

Violent is a film that is in no way what it seems, indirectly deceiving from the title. Directed by Andrew Huculiak of the Vancouver band We Are The City (who provide the music as well), of all things it is described as a “coming of age” film that takes place in Norway. And the dialogue is in Norwegian.

And it feels ploddingly slow. We do not know why young Dagney is so disaffected, and lonely. She has beauty, a home, love from her family. But still she heads to the city, to find herself? But things fall apart, her best friend moves to Stockholm, we know from the outset the cousin whom her mom has arranged to give Dagney a job and a place to live, is, well a creeper.

Dagney seems content wandering, with strange visions of people floating in the air, rooms that seem to defy gravity. She bounces from situation, getting away from the cousin, finding solace and wisdom with her grandfather, an odd friend who has visions of some dark force of destruction, a young man she meets at a party and just has dialogue with.

All leading to the last scene, which returns to the start of the movie, and a strange flash. The repeated words “it feels like water” “it feels like electricity” “the sound of the refrigerator humming”.

I left a bit confused, but in a few blocks of walking and talking to Jon, it slowly crystallized. I’m not going to toss the spoilers, if I have not already, but so much in the movie is indirect, understated, with ideas of death and love and people who matter, even the strange ones.

Even with a few days passing, the themes of the movies grow on you in time. It’s refreshing to have a story you need to work out rather than having it handed to you on a shiny platter.