Chattanooga Film Festival 2023 – If you’re tired of the average run-of-the mill slashers, let me suggest We Might Hurt Each Other, also called Rupintojelis. In fact, it’s Lithuania’s very first slasher. While it has elements that we’ve come to expect, including a cabin in the woods and a bunch of teens who do bad things, the film still maintains a uniqueness that’s a nice change from its American counterparts.

Jonas Trukanas directed the film and co-wrote the script with Titas Laucius. While the cast is fairly large and some of the teens feel like mere slice and dice cannon fodder, there is a protagonist, Marius (Sarunas Rapolas Meliesius). This is a kid who doesn’t have much going for him, whose future is uncertain.  Graduation fills him with dread. All of his friends have it figured out. One wants to be a chef. Another wants to be a fashion designer in Paris. And one is close to playing in the NBA. The basketball star, Rimas (Kipras Masidlauskas), is everything Marius is not, including assertive. Marius even crushes on Rimas’ girlfriend, Brigita (Gabija Bargailaite). Yet, before any of the teens are introduced, the film begins with a brief shot of a horribly burned man carving a wooden statue. In appearances, he resembles Cropsy from The Burning. Metaphorically, the statue can be read as the graduates forging their futures. More importantly, it figures into the plot.

The teens plan to celebrate graduation but get lost and end up at a desolated cabin in the woods. They come across creepy wooden statues. The shy Saule (Saule Rasimaite) explains they were created by the artist Algis (Marius Repsys). After Algis’ family died in a fire, he took to carving statues and even became famous for a brief period. Since then, no one has heard of him. Well, when the teens defile and ruin his statues, he comes out of hiding with a vengeance. Anyone who messed with his art faces Algis’ Old Testament wrath.

The kills really don’t start until the halfway point. Before that, there’s a lot of time spent developing Marius’ story especially, including the fact his parents like Rimas more than him. This makes him a fairly likeable protagonist who earns sympathy, though he does make a few stupid choices, like going after his friend’s girl. Still, when the bloodshed starts, there’s a few nasty deaths that slasher fans should enjoy.

If there’s one thread that runs through the film, it’s that of suffering, not only the Christ-like imagery, but Algis’ story and to a lesser extent, Marius’ woes. He’s a kid whose future is muddled and whose own parents don’t really love him. Yet, he does make a few dumb and underhanded decisions, adding moral ambiguity to his character. We Might Hurt Each Other is an intriguing and gripping film. It hits upon familiar slasher touchstones while very much carving its own path.

7 Out of 10