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Much like the Samuel Beckett play Endgame, which features prominently in the captivating Easy Land, Sanja Zivkovic’s debut finds nuance in the repetitious nature of life. It is a film that does not offer many grand emotional moments, but rather lingers in the malaise of smaller ones.
Nina (Nina Kiri) and her mother Jasna (Mirjana Jokovic) are refugees from Serbia who are having a hard time since moving to Canada. Nina is on the cusp of finishing high school and has no goals in sight. When not being bullied by peers, or selling burner cellphones on the street, she worries about her mother’s mental state. An architect in her homeland, Jasna is forced to take a menial job under a condescending boss. Clearly haunted by the effects of war, Jasna obsessively dives into projects that allow her to ignore the true depth of her condition.
Building its emotional subtly, Easy Land captures the feeling of isolation that many refugees experience being trapped between two worlds. Nina and Jasna represent individuals who are suffering in plain sight, but whose pain often goes unnoticed. Anchored by strong performances by Kiri and Jokovic, Easy Land find honesty and hope in everyday struggle.
