BLOG · Review: “Minimum Love”

Written by Linda Krnáčová
Master Film and Photographic Studies at Leiden University

Minimum Love (2025) by Maja Penčič is a very personal documentary which explores the problems of the modern world through interviewing people on the streets of Prague. Penčič focusses on ordinary people, including the youth, workers and the homeless, who are not often given a voice. Presumably, not a lot of people would consider the opinion of a drunk 17-year-old valuable, but for Maja, it is the most precious one. She asks young people outside of bars or just walking on the streets, how living in this world makes them feel, how they’re affected by climate change, or what they think about the war in Ukraine. As she gets to know her interviewees, they start to open up, and the conversations start to shift from serious to more intimate. One of the main themes which are being explored are love, sex, gender, rape and violence. For me, it was striking how the director managed to walk a very delicate line between “appropriate” content, and the very personal and almost confidential stories the people tell her over time. It made me think about how the people featured in this film would feel if they saw themselves on the big screen in such a vulnerable state, while being observed by strangers they’ve never met. Ultimately, however, the beauty of this film lies in its sincerity that strikes us exactly because it is so rare. Nowadays, while people try to be as perfect and flawless as can be, this film shot on a camcorder by a student feels like a balm for the soul.