A Journey Unplanned: Vytautas Katkus' 'The Visitor' Explores the Weight of Doing Nothing

Karlovy Vary Film Festival is set to host the premiere of THE VISITOR, the poignant and subtly absurd feature debut from Lithuanian director Vytautas Katkus. What begins as a simple errand for new father Danielius quickly transforms into an unexpected odyssey of self-discovery, where confronting one's past proves to be the most challenging work of all.

Danielius (portrayed by Darius Šilėnas), a new father residing happily in Norway, travels back to his native Lithuania with a seemingly straightforward goal: to finally sell his parents' apartment. He anticipates a swift transaction and a quick return to his family. Yet, once the flat is on the market and shown to potential buyers, Danielius makes an unforeseen decision – he chooses to stay.

"The plan isn't complicated at all: he wants to go there, sell his apartment and come back. Easy. But then his old town pulls him back in," Katkus explains, hinting at the magnetic pull of home and history.

Danielius' actions in Lithuania are shrouded in a quiet ambiguity. He carries no obvious secrets, yet he struggles to articulate his prolonged stay. Having been absent for so long, even missing his father's funeral, his lingering presence in his childhood haunts suggests a form of unspoken grief. "Maybe that's how he grieves? He's trying to say goodbye to all these places, picking up leftovers of his memories, first emotions, first everythings. It's really not about this apartment at all – and he knows it," Katkus reveals, underscoring the deeper emotional currents at play.

As the summer blossoms, Danielius' behavior grows increasingly peculiar, mirroring the quirky individuals and strange situations he encounters during his aimless wandering through the city. "Some of these people made him into who he is now," Katkus observes. "It's a very small universe, but anything could happen there. I wanted it to feel strange, but still realistic. If you look outside your window long enough, you'll see even more craziness. The difference is, we usually don't have the time to notice it. He does."

Despite the film's intended absurdity and chaotic moments, Danielius' underlying melancholy is a persistent thread. "There's sadness to it, sure. Soon, he won't have a place to go back to," says Katkus. However, he emphasizes that this doesn't sever his ties to Lithuania. "He'll always be a part of this place. We can't just erase our past. We can return as a visitor, as a guest, as a friend."

Danielius is a man of few words, but immense feeling. Katkus stresses that his character is "feeling a lot," and this very silence allows viewers to project their own emotions onto him, fostering a deeper connection. What Danielius truly needs, the director suggests, is a "mental holiday." After years of relentless work, he'd forgotten how to simply "be," to unwind without purpose. Now, with unexpected time on his hands, he confronts the difficult act of doing nothing.

"I said 'holiday' before, but that's not the right word. It's more existential than that. It's something that just needs to be done for his mental wellbeing and his energy. But it would be very hard to explain it to others, even to his wife."

Fortunately, this unexpected pause offers Danielius the perfect, albeit unusual, excuse to escape his daily grind. "Sometimes, all you need to do is nothing," says the Lithuanian director. "Nowadays, we really don't have time to just be. To walk around, to meet strangers – to think. He's not running away from anything. This trip was planned. His family knows where he is and why, he's made all the arrangements. And yet, all of a sudden, he has all this time he can spend on his own, alone with his thoughts. It's not always easy to be with yourself in this way. But it's necessary, especially when you're looking for closure."

The Visitor was co-written by Katkus and Marija Kavtaradze, known for the Sundance revelation Slow. Marija Razgutė (RUNNER) and Brigita Beniušytė (MY FREEDOM) produced for M-Films, with co-production from Stær Films and Garagefilm Intl. International sales are handled by Totem Films.