The Activist, ‘Aktyvistas,’ would have been better suited to an episodic drama, where themes had the space to breathe, and characters had time to develop fully.
Writer and director Romas Zabarauskas has offered us some truly engaging and fascinating movies exploring the gay experience over the years, from an exploration of immigration and identity in The Writer, to the complex drama The Lawyer, where sex, power and position took centre stage. The Activist is a knotty and at times thrilling tale of the rise of far-right extremism in Europe, and an LGBTQ+ community pushed further and further toward the edges of society.
Set in Lithuania, a country where LGBTQ+ rights are often stuck between the conservatism and suppression of the past and its relatively new European identity, Zabarauskas introduces us to Deividas (Elvinas Juodkazis), who leads Rainbow Kaunas, an LGBT+ rights organisation looking to organise the first pride march in the city and his boyfriend Andrius (Robertas Petraitis), a man who prefers to stay out of the limelight. As Deividas attends a government event celebrating Pride Month, it’s clear that Kaunus is a city divided. And as right-wing protestors mingle with extreme right activists, events soon turn nasty. But that protest is just the beginning of the horrific events about to unfold; events that will see Deividas killed in their apartment and Andrius determined to find his killer, even if that means infiltrating the far right.
Romas Zabarauskas’ classic noir thriller holds moments of brilliance as Andrius navigates a web of intrigue, lies and political manoeuvres that extends not only into the dark corners of far-right groups springing up across the city, but also into Rainbow Kaunas itself. There is a series of fascinating discussions that lay bare how political extremism has engulfed our society, on both the left and the right, and how polarisation has increased the risks we all face in navigating a divided world. However, the runtime never truly allows all these discussions to reach their full potential, leaving us with a story that feels underbaked as we near the knotty conclusion. Ultimately, The Activist would have been better suited to an episodic drama, where themes had the space to breathe, and characters had time to develop fully.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to love in Zabarauskas’ film, or that the bravery of his choice of subject matter doesn’t deserve praise. But as the credits roll, many of you, like me, will no doubt feel this noir thriller, led by the brilliant Robertas Petraitis, rushes toward a conclusion rather than taking its time to unpack the urgent discussions at its core fully.
The Activist is playing in selected cinemas now.
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