A Man Thing (2001)

This is a short film about child abuse. The child actor is very engaging, extremely natural, very well led by the director. The cinematography gives everything a grimy, realistic, post-communist bleakness. Kudos to the director for keeping everything tight and lean. Whether the film could be more uplifting is a question of taste. Polish cinema isn't exactly known for it's light touch so don't expect a happy ending.

The only real problem with the story is that it's not very original. In fact, it looks like a compressed version of "Kes" with dogs substituted for birds. I guess if you haven't seen that Ken Loach film it won't matter but this fact stuck out for me.

-miszel, IMDB