Critics reviews

Slow maps out desires and dreams through minute glances, gestures, and silences. Watching it feels like falling in love.

The second feature film from director Marija Kavtaradze (Summer Survivors), Slow is terrific – an honest and affecting portrait of an atypical romance.

The gentle naturalism of Slow’s style – full of long takes, restrained dialogue and a moving handheld camera that makes liberal use of closeups – gives the story a homespun, intimate feel.

Instead of piling on contrivances and cheap psychology to move the story along, Kavtaradze keeps "Slow" situated in a refreshingly human level, respecting the intelligence of her characters and the audience. In that, she is aided immensely by the work of her two stars, both of whom deliver smart and convincing performances. The level of emotional intimacy that they display in their scenes together is genuinely off the charts.

Cicėnas and Grineviciute are both strong actors, each conveying their character insecurities and vulnerabilities with nuance, but their chemistry together isn’t quite enough to paper over the cracks in the movie’s love story.

All the makings of a great romantic drama seem present... Yet Slow’s style eventually grows dull. A steady diet of naturalism over 108 minutes is generally not my idea of a good time, especially when the stakes and eventual outcome remain so rooted in “nicecore” tonality that nothing other than the moderate charm and rooting interest of the leads can hook you...

“Slow,” a relationship drama from Lithuania with a delicate touch, offers an understanding of intimacy that is rare in romance movies.

Neither dryly didactic nor neutered when it comes to its depiction of asexuality, “Slow” reveals itself to be quite a tender portrait of love and companionship...

It’s a careful balancing act to keep Slow’s tragicomic tone from slipping too far in either direction, but Kavtaradzė is in firm command of her craft, and the sun-dappled, docu-style cinematography lends the film an intimacy and tactility that further draws us into Elena and Dovydas’s little world.

Marija Kavtaradze's deeply felt romance "Slow" unfolds like the memory of a faded romance, where even the worst fights are perpetually wrapped in hopeful rays of sunlight. But even that false sunshine can't hide the bittersweet undercurrent of regret that tends to linger in these kinds of memories.