'Only Beautiful Things to Look At' review: handsome but muffled
Variety's review of Only Beautiful Things to Look At finds Ivan Ostrochovský's Czechoslovak drama handsome but muffled: its soft-focus 1980s elegance and white-doctor focus turn state-sanctioned Roma sterilization into distant museum-piece cruelty, despite strong work from Anna Geislerová and Simona Boledovičová at Karlovy Vary. For viewers tracking only beautiful things look coverage, the verdict matters because the film tackles forced sterilization that continued into the 21st century.
Key Takeaways
- Variety calls the Karlovy Vary drama well-intentioned yet bloodless, with period-detail beauty that blunts urgency.
- The story centers on gynecologist Ingrid, whose conscience stirs through friendship with Romani orderly Agáta.
- Critics say Roma women remain largely voiceless while close-ups linger on Ingrid's blond hair and fair skin.
- Coerced sterilization left patients with a scar nicknamed the bow, often without informed consent.
- The finale resolves conflict with what Variety describes as a rather glib miracle.
What Is 'Only Beautiful Things to Look At' About?
Slovakian filmmaker Ivan Ostrochovský sets his drama in 1980s Czechoslovakia, when the state ran a racist program to suppress the Roma population through coerced sterilization. The film painstakingly evokes the era's fashions and furnishings, yet Variety critic Jessica Kiang argues that attractive presentation makes the atrocity feel farther away than it was.
The story follows Ingrid (Anna Geislerová), a hospital gynecologist who assesses and performs sterilizations to meet government quotas. Outside work she enjoys a refined countryside life with music-teacher husband Maros (Vlad Ivanov). Her moral discomfort grows only after befriending sweet-natured orderly Agáta (Simona Boledovičová), who is reticent about her Romani identity.
Why Does Variety Call the Film 'Muffled'?
The review opens on a montage of young Roma women posed like studio portraits while an offscreen voice lectures them on family planning. Sterilization, the voice claims disingenuously, allows Gypsy women to improve their family's quality of life. Though cinematographer Juraj Chlpík frames them with dignity, none of these women speak.
Instead, the first protest belongs to Ingrid, angry after losing a head-doctor post to a male colleague. Variety says this old-school, soft-focus approach, plus centering a white protagonist, robs the film of urgency. The policy did not end with communism; sterilization continued well into the 21st century in both the Czech and Slovak Republics.
Whose Story Gets Lost in the Handsome Framing?
Co-written with Marek Leščák, the film is not a crude white-savior tale, yet Variety says it still assumes a white woman's awakening is the best conduit for audiences. Agáta's arc proves richer: separated as an orphan from sister Jula (Eva Mores), she moves between Jula's cramped Roma household and Ingrid's fairytale home.
The sisters' unspoken resentment peaks in a moving bathtime reconciliation, hinting at long-term consequences for women bearing the bow after procedures misrepresented in languages they did not speak. Yet the film keeps returning to Ingrid in rumpled sheets and macro close-ups, until a glib finale restores comfort.
Where Can You Follow More Streaming Reviews?
Only Beautiful Things to Look At closes with a title irony: viewers are offered beautiful surfaces while uglier truths stay at a remove. For more festival and platform coverage like this, browse our Streaming & TV Alerts hub as Karlovy Vary titles reach wider audiences.