“Elvis Škorc, Genius Klutz” would be the direct translation of the title of Slovenian writer Janja Vidmar’s popular young adult book. And being a bit of a klutz is a given when one enters that difficult phase of transitioning from innocent childhood to a more complex adulthood – especially, if you are a genius in some areas of life, but hopelessly clueless in others.

The movie adaptation, Elvis Starling, for which Vidmar herself wrote the script and which Boris Jurjaševič directed, first premiered at the German Internationales Filmfestival Schlingel, and has now screened at the 28th Festival of Slovenian Film. Protagonist Elvis (Maks Peštaj Zevnik) is a 14-year-old boy from Ljubljana who is brilliant at chemistry but struggling with everything else. His mother Polona (Iva Krajnc Bagola) and his father Peter (Matej Puc) are long separated, and he blames the situation on his father’s reluctance to take responsibility. His sister Ela (Kiara Kenig) is being annoying, his granny Vilma (Zvezdana Mlakar) is overprotective, and at school, his bullies Urban (Tilen Kolbe), Blaž (Arne Duhovnik) and Dani (Til Pučko) won’t give him a break.

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Things are only going to get more complicated from here. A new girl, Hana (Hana Majdič), arrives at school, immediately capturing Elvis’s attention, much to the dismay of his friend Klara (Frida Bratuš). His science teacher (Marko Mandić) wants him to enroll in a science competition, but Elvis can’t seem to make his experiment work. And then there is the most shocking part: his mother is pregnant again by her mysterious boyfriend, Marko. Another baby in the household? Elvis is annoyed. 

How Elvis navigates these challenges, learns to make space for other people’s needs, while also rising above caring what others think of him, are the core lessons of the film. Vidmar does not shy away from writing her protagonist as a somewhat obnoxious know-it-all at times, yet he has a gentle heart, overthinks everything and is, at his core, very sensitive. One can easily see some parallels to the more famous Adrian Mole of Sue Townsend, except Elvis’s world is squeaky-clean and thus more suitable to a younger audience.

Main actor Zevnik’s first impression might not strike one with the air of a natural outsider, but he makes up for it with a sensitive interpretation of youthful growing pains. While presenting a broad tableau of challenges, the movie tends to rush through the third act, resolving certain conflicts too easily or just papering over them. However, from an adult point of view, the movie excels at portraying the complexities of modern patchwork families, or grown-ups struggling to find their own purpose in life. Nobody is perfect, and nobody has all the answers, but as the characters repeatedly point out, having a family and a tight-knit clan is all one needs to face any challenge.

Elvis Starling was produced by the Slovenian production company Fabula, in coproduction with RTV Slovenija, and co-funded by the Slovenian Film Centre – SFC.