Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Charming and brutal

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

"In Bloom" is a first-rate coming-of-age drama from ex-Soviet Georgia, set in the capital, Tbilisi, in 1992, when the newly independent country is on the verge of coming apart. Russian-backed insurgents are fighting on the coast, bread is rationed, lawless customs from the bad old days —bride kidnapping, settling romantic rivalries with knives—are making a strong comeback. The two leads, both first-time actresses, are amazing. Natia, already a beauty at 14, is being courted by two older guys—an unsavory tough, Kote, and the more appealing Lado. Before Lado goes off on an inopportune trip to Moscow, he gives Natia a revolver to protect herself. The stage seems to be set for an operatic climax until hard-headed Eka takes matters in hand. The establishing scenes of squabbling families and menacing streets are quite well done, but it's the strong plot and the two lead actresses' sensitive performances that save this film from art-house miserabilism. Surprisingly, the real highlights are both musical numbers—Natia, Eka and their friends gather around the piano to sing a world-weary lovesong (something about "life is hard, and it will crush your dreams"), and Eka performs an amazing solo dance at a traditional wedding party. "In Bloom" is one of the better unheralded foreign films we've seen on Netflix lately.

After the fall of USSR, Georgia finds itself in anarchy, degeneration, decay and depression. All of this is reflected in behavior of its people. The movie paints a bleak landscape at every level: widespread crime, dog-eat-dog atmosphere expressed in bread lines (survival of the fittest); domestic violence - resulted from economic woes + accepted culture of excessive male dominance and drinking; decline in schools (teacher judges and makes fun of students in front of the class, making unpatriotic comments about a student's father fighting in a war with Abghazia). Atmosphere of hopelessness prevails in Georgia except for beautiful, little 14 yo Eka with very sad face. She is the light in this land of darkness, representing Georgian hope and possibly a better future some day. She is not afraid to stand up to societal wrongs, question, support and protect her friends, speak out and shame others for their indifference toward their own society i.e. their country. Eka is the hidden goodness of Georgia, characterized by her mesmerizing dance at the wedding. She is a "uniter, not a divider", able to lift spirits and make her countrymen smile, cry and feel some kind of pride and emotion for their lost and forgotten Georgian-ness.

The new Georgina film ''In bloom'' makes Deep impression onlooker, great performance by Lika Babluani and Mariam Bokeria, - a classic story about the transition to adulthood and its attendant difficulties, where the great camera work and acting of spaces were completely wiped out in the story, rather odd mounting solutions, and, most importantly, the only female view of the world.The film is full of tragic scenes, typical of the Georgina, ''in bloom'' - talking about everyday life, it is often very cruel to us, on the abnormal situation in the families of the strong friendship and mutual assistance, first love ... yes, of love, of course, he said. And again about his childhood.I think This film is actually In Top 5 made In Georgia During last 20-25 Year.

In Bloom is a Georgian submission on Oscars. Movie's original title literally translates as "Long Bright Days" and tells a story of two young best friends during early years of Georgian independence in 1992. Story of these two girls expose problems of our society which most of Georgians still face nowadays: domestic violence, ignorance, struggle between generations of parents and children.Eka & Natia are two teenagers living in extremely violent society, where you have no chance to find justice, or somebody to support you, even your family. This is war going inside of families and outside of them and mostly because grownups (parents) are not capable of dialing their lives. Sadly, their children get more harmed than they do. It is time when boyfriends give guns to their girlfriends, instead of some fluffy gifts, to ensure that they are safe, when underage boys can beat to death anybody they wish and when nobody cares if somebody gets killed in front of them. It's a story of massive ignorance of actions that are believed to be immoral, at least, today.In Bloom clearly shows deconstruction of functional society, how they accept violence on a daily bases - at schools, in the street, in the families. 90s is a period when children started not to understand their parent because they can not live with the mistakes adults have made, so the whole film is about kids asking for answers which they never get, because there is no one to answer.I liked the movie, as a Georgian. I mean, it is close to me, very understandable since I am familiar to every and each fact it talks about. But the problem is that it seems to be made only for Georgian, because I can't imagine anybody outside my country fully realize the whole drama films is trying to tell. And this is because In Bloom kind of lacks emotional depth. There is a scene when Natia, who's 14, is kidnapped by a guy, who's in love with her, and raped by him and later forcing her to marry. Having no choice, she does so, despite loving another guy from school. It is the biggest drama, since it's been a very common situation in Georgian life, lots of young girls have experienced the same and everybody (still) are accepting this on the moral or law bases. But, unfortunately, movie does not make this scene that much dramatic, it actually "skips" the whole trauma, which I found very irritating. If directors wanted to make other people understand why Natia's life was ruined, they should have made this more emotional, personal and clear.What I enjoyed very much, is cinematography. Georgian films mostly lack a good camera work, but In Bloom had very spectacular colors & beautiful shots. Main characters, who have received numerous festival awards, did brilliant acting job. They were best in delivering true feelings & emotions of their lives. But I think, there was much more directing work to do, that'd make film even more tense and interesting.Oscar chances? It won't make it, unless Academy wants to have Georgian film in final five (which won't happen). Mostly because it does not deliver relevant story, story which can be understood by anybody and not only by those, who've experienced it. This is a reason, why I give it 6 out of 10, it is too local and I want that Georgian directors to start filming more "international" movies.