Abandonment

WETLANDS (B+) - An extraordinary performance by Carla Juri propels this roller-coaster story of an 18-year-old girl obsessed with her private parts and with reuniting her divorced parents.

This is definitely a challenge in the first half. Juri's Helen seemingly has no boundaries when it comes to bodily functions and raw sexuality. There's nowhere she won't put her fingers, and she has quite the curious palate.

Helen is also endlessly appealing, wielding a wink and a knowing smile. She pumps up the self-esteem of her shlubby friend Corinna. She's a skateboard ace. She's shockingly frank. Yet she aches, still, from the breakup of her parents.

When an anal fissure meets a shaving accident, Helen ends up in the hospital. She handles the indignities like a champ, and she smells opportunities -- a romantic one in hunky nurse Robin and an emotional one in conniving to get her estranged parents to come together over their ailing daughter. Flashbacks to her childhood deftly define her dark side

When, deep into the second half of the film, Helen inflicts unimaginable pain on herself, you are at first horrified by the sheer physical devastation. But what immediately sinks in is an awareness of the debilitating emotional pain she is suffering from. It's a heartbreaking cry for help. It's one of the most powerful scenes I've ever witnessed.

Writer/director David Wnendt plays a long game here, and those tempted to shut this disgusting thing down 20 minutes in will miss out on a surprisingly touching drama about a girl who never got over that devastating childhood trauma and instead compensates with provocative behavior. Juri is a revelation, as she effortless carries every scene like a pro. By the end, you can't take your eyes off of her, no matter how much she may try to repel you.

I'M GLAD MY MOTHER IS ALIVE (2011) (B) - Poor little Thomas was 4, and his brother Patrick an infant, when their mother, Julie, gave them up for adoption, abandoned them.

Thomas never recovered. Adopted by a kind but meek couple, he turned into a troubled kid, getting shipped off to boarding school as an adolescent. Eventually, we meet him at age 20 (played by Vincent Rottiers), working as a mechanic. He becomes intent on tracking down his birth mother.

Thomas (a haunting Vincent Rottiers) finds Julie (a moving Sophie Cattani) and infiltrates her current life, raising another son from another father, a boy not much older than Thomas was when he was left behind. Thomas is determined to look out for little Frederic and to make sure Julie doesn't wound another defenseless boy. Meantime, he throws away his job and ditches his deflated adoptive mother and her shell-shocked husband, who shuffles around a nursing home.

We can tell all along that Thomas is never quite right. His obsession with Julie and her body language toward him create an eerie, unsettling atmosphere. When a shocking event occurs, it's not entirely a surprise. The follow-up subtly examines how we are scarred by the past and pay for our sins. This is a dark, disturbing film, not too far from a Dardenne brothers morality tale.