Croatian-filmmaker’s ‘Murina’ sets tension in sunny paradise

By LINDSEY BAHR
AP Film Writer

Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s debut feature “Murina,” about a 17-year-old girl with a domineering father living in a sun-soaked paradise on the Adriatic, has been likened to a Patricia Highsmith thriller. Kusijanović says “Misogyny and disrespect of women is the same everywhere. It just has different names.”  The film, produced by Martin Scorsese and starring Gracija Filipović, won Kusijanović a prize for best first feature at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021. Scorcese wrote that he’s “excited for audiences…to witness the emergence of an extremely talented young filmmaker.” “Murina” opens in New York on Friday and in Los Angeles on July 15.