A moody, arty dark Swedish book adaptation using metaphor to describe alienation and body dimorphism, Girls Lost on the surface resembles Let The Right One In.

Perhaps it plays better on a giant screen, where the darkness will shimmer, or maybe the score is more ethereal with booming speakers, Alexandra Therese-Keining’s adaptation just feels a little…lost.

The story is magnificent, about a trio of outcast girls that, with the assistance of a magical flower, (it’s complicated), wake up to discover that they have become boys. This transformation is especially meaningful for one of the girls who feels like she has a zipper where her body should be, (this feeing is made explicit through perhaps too dramatic narration). The story seems to be the most interesting aspect of the film, which was selected for film festivals, and feels like it’s always on the way to greatness, but doesn’t become much of anything. Perhaps certain film festivals let the wrong one in?

[star v=25]