Ryna

Doroteea Petre stars as the titular character in this Romanian drama about a teenager forced by her father—who really wanted a son—to wear her hair close-cropped and work as a mechanic. Despite this gender-bending life, Ryna's natural beauty is apparent and she winds up with not one but three suitors from very different social stations: a young postman whom she likes; the local mayor, who becomes smitten after he realizes there is a girl under those overalls; and—from out of nowhere—a visiting French anthropology student researcher who falls in love with Ryna. Rebelling against her son-obsessed father, Ryna wears a dress for the first time in her life, but instead of opening the door to a long-delayed dream, this act of fashion independence does not work out the way she had hoped. Unfortunately, the acting here is monotonous and director Ruxandra Zenide creates a drab visual style that feels suffocating, so what could've been either a touching drama or a loopy comedy instead ultimately comes across as a flat, antiseptic slice-of-dreary Romanian life that veers off abruptly into extreme territory during its final act.  Not recommended. (P. Hall)