‘Caravan’ review: A mother and her disabled son take to the road in Italy

Dir: Zuzana Kirchnerova. Czech Republic/Slovakia/Italy. 2025. 103 minutes

The burden of care is all-consuming in Caravan. Zuzana Kirchnerova’s achieved debut function charts the bond between a weary mom and her disabled son as they embark on a liberating highway journey. Delicate dealing with attracts out the advanced feelings at in a movie which focuses on value of household obliigation in an identical approach to Kirchnerova’s quick movie Baba (2008) which received the Cinefondation prize at Cannes in 2009. The director herself is the mom of a disabled son and Caravan confronts the emotions of guilt, disgrace and frustration of a mum or dad whose complete world revolves across the wants of her youngster.

A delicate, efficient humanist drama

This deeply private story ought to earn sustained pageant publicity following a world premiere in Un Sure Regard, with CinemArt scheduled to launch within the Czech Republic in late August. Caravan could be very a lot within the social realist custom of the Dardenne brothers and has affinities with Agnes Varda’s Vagabond (1985). Marked by its emotional truths and finely judged performances,  Caravan finally emerges as a delicate, efficient humanist drama. 

Ester (Ana Geislerova) is a single-mother to David (David Vodstrcil), a non-verbal adolescent with Down’s Syndrome and autism. She has welcomed the possibility to affix previous buddy Petra (Plodkova) and her household on vacation in Italy. Kirchnerova units the scene of a summer time idyll with a soundtrack of gently lapping waves and the decision of seagulls. Daylight shimmers throughout the ocean as they take pleasure in a lazy afternoon on the seaside. Ester reassures David that he’ll make buddies and really feel comfy however the vacation turns into a impolite awakening.

Petra, in the meantime, pities Ester while her Italian husband Tomasso (Giandomenico Cupaiulo) provides trite strategies to make Ester’s life higher. Ester overhears one in every of Petra’s youngsters saying, “I don’t need him right here.”

Caravan captures the truth of how unpredictable David could be as he switches from loving and playful to wilful and violent. Ester carries the indicators of scratches and bites . She spends her life apologising and clearing up any mess however we by no means lose sight of the love that guides her.

Seizing the possibility to flee, Ester and David take to the highway in an previous caravan, driving the backwaters of Calabria and buying a travelling companion within the free-spirited Zuza (Juliana Brutovska) who’s totally comfy with David.  Breaking out of their routine creates a way of freedom. Kirchnerova offers lyrical moments through which each mom and son have time to cease and replicate. There are nights of dancing and even the tentative risk of a romance between Ester and Marco (Mario Russo) who manages immigrant farm staff.  Ester is granted a responsible style of the life she might need past mom and care-giver. She can also be painfully conscious of the indicators that David is maturing right into a younger man and questions how for much longer she will stick with it.

Ana Geislerova’s commanding central efficiency conveys each the power and vulnerability of Ester. She brings a strained steeliness to the character but in addition a way of how rapidly which may crumble within the face of a sort phrase or a human contact. Chosen after a prolonged casting course of, non-professional Down’s syndrome actor David Vodstrcil (who has the look of a younger Gilbert Grape-era Leonardo Di Caprio) invests David with an endearing appeal and poignancy. The intimate bond between characters and between performers is the bedrock of the movie.

.Modifications within the climate replicate emotional upheavals however the similarities appear most pronounced  in a central character marginalised by the mainstream, self-reliant and topic to each the kindness and cruelty of strangers as she travels into unknown territory.