*In competition for the Young Jury PLUS Award

Winner of the Golden Leopard for Best Film and Best First Feature at Locarno, Toxic opens a window into the merciless world of models and catwalks from the point of view of two teenage girls. Dreaming of escaping their small industrial town, 13-year-old Marija and Kristina join a modeling agency that should propel them into the glamorous world of fashion and independence. Driven by the promise of better life, they begin to torture their bodies with increasingly extreme treatments and diets, forming an unusual alliance in the process. Toxic is an unabashed look at the dark side of girls’ coming-of-age, but also a touching portrait of female friendship as a refuge and mode of survival.