A raw and devastating portrait of adolescence is what director Kosara Mitić achieves with her debut feature, 17 (2026). Shot entirely with a handheld camera and extreme close-ups, the film immerses us in Sara’s (Eva Kostić) experience during a trip with her classmates. This North Macedonian production has been selected to represent the country’s cinema in the race for an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film. Mitić brings us so close to her central character that the experience becomes deeply unsettling, confronting us with the pain of her wounds without filters.

We barely know Sara when we are already witnessing one of the most traumatic moments of her life. We feel her desperation and pain, and the fade to black that closes this opening sequence offers no relief. Instead, it becomes the gateway to her wounded world. Then comes the everyday routine: the camera follows her as she spends time with her family before leaving on a trip with her classmates. It is here that we gradually begin to uncover the storm raging inside her mind. Her silence is an expression of frustration, an emotional burden that shapes her present and prevents her from finding peace. Uncertainty slowly consumes her, as the film draws us closer to a wound whose consequences seem to offer her no respite.

With 17, Kosara Mitić not only explores Sara’s turbulent inner world and the conflict tearing her apart, but also the toxic dynamics that emerge within male groups, the games of power, abuse, and shame as tools for silencing victims. The suffocating close-ups and a camera that follows our protagonist at every step create a visual approach that allows us to stay close to her while also drawing us into her psyche. The camera seems to breathe alongside her, absorbing every gesture, every silence, and even the faintest heartbeat of her anguish. In this way, the film does not simply show us Sara’s suffering from the outside; it immerses us in her experience. At first, we question her decisions and grow angry at her actions, but as the pieces of the puzzle gradually fall into place, our perspective begins to change. Indignation gives way to profound empathy for a wounded soul who seems to have crossed the point of no return.

Beyond the remarkable direction, the film’s greatest strength is Eva Kostić’s extraordinary performance. The role of Sara marks her cinematic debut, and Mitić specifically sought an actress with no professional acting experience who could embody the character. In Kostić, she discovers an exceptional talent, capable of carrying the film’s entire emotional weight with a visceral performance that is impossible to forget. In the final sequence, the actress reaches her fullest expression, surrendering herself completely to a character pushed to the limits of her strength. It is a moment of tremendous intensity that shakes us and drags us, inevitably, into Sara’s inner hell.