On the eve of its domestic cinema distribution, the intimate drama I'm Not Like That / Hallway to Nowhere brings a rarely seen combination of emotional immediacy and social sharpness: a story about a young woman who, only after her twentieth birthday, tries to break free from the expectations of her family, partner, and work environment, and — through a series of dangerous choices — find her own voice. The central protagonist, Franka, subtly and physically powerfully portrayed by Tara Thaller, is both a catalyst and a reflector: through her decisions, the generational gap, economic vulnerability, and the power of (in)visible forms of control in partnerships are observed. Zagreb (see SMNISAM TAKVA / HALLWAY TO NOWHERE – a new Croatian drama about searching for identity and taking control of one's own life) in the film is not just a backdrop, but a stratified space where private risks very quickly turn into public consequences.
Premiere, dates, and where to watch
The ceremonial Croatian premiere was held on October 14, 2025, at the Cineplexx City Center East hall in Zagreb (more on the context of Zagreb: SMNISAM TAKVA / HALLWAY TO NOWHERE – a new Croatian drama...), with a limited number of guests and invitations that can be requested at studio.corvus@gmail.com. From October 16, 2025, the film will begin regular distribution in Croatia, with screenings in Cineplexx cinemas (Zagreb City Center East and Split City Center; for Split see here: SMNISAM TAKVA / HALLWAY TO NOWHERE – a new Croatian drama...) and in Kino mreža halls across the country. Thus, the title becomes one of the rare domestic films that, through synchronized opening in the largest urban centers and a network of independent cinemas, attempts to reach different generations and viewing habits.
A plot that unfolds like a narrow hallway
A few days after her twentieth birthday, Franka leaves her family home and moves into a small apartment she inherited from her grandmother. The plan for a quiet start to independent life immediately collapses: in the apartment, she finds Ante, an illegal tenant fleeing his own past. Stipe Jelaska builds Ante as a charismatic, morally conflicted young man whose fight against injustice awakens Franka's curiosity, empathy, but also a dangerous attraction. Their relationship soon turns from romance into a tense power dynamic, especially when Franka realizes she is starting to lose herself in the partnership — and when, in parallel, her connection with Stela, a colleague from her new job played by Romina Tonković, deepens.
The intensity of her relationship with Ante and the increasingly close friendly — and perhaps romantic — connection with Stela lead Franka into a whirlwind that combines a sense of freedom and confinement. The "Hallway to Nowhere" from the title becomes a metaphor: a series of short decisions, doors that we don't know where they lead, a space that resembles an escape but constantly returns to the starting point. Zagreb, as a labyrinth of neighborhoods, streets, and official counters (again connected to Zagreb's urban identity: SMNISAM TAKVA / HALLWAY TO NOWHERE – a new Croatian drama...), in this sense functions as an additional character.
Author focusing on identity and responsibility
The screenplay and direction are by Zvonimir Munivrana, a director who, in his feature film debut, opted for an "inside-out" approach: micro-relationships and small, often silent transitions between tenderness and pressure are more important than spectacular twists. Munivrana, educated beyond film academies, precisely orchestrates the tension between the idea of freedom and the reality of responsibility to oneself — as he himself summarized: the film explores the boundary between love and control, between the illusion of freedom and the necessity of taking responsibility for one's own choices. Such an authorial stance shapes the rhythm of the film: scenes rarely demand a musical "accent," and when music enters, it serves as the characters' inner pulse, not as emotional manipulation.
Cast and roles that remain after the credits roll
The roles are carried by three actors whose registral ranges complement each other. Tara Thaller in Franka combines courage and vulnerability: a face that simultaneously shows doubt and defiance, concern and determination. Stipe Jelaska builds Ante as a contradictory blend of idealism and possessive instinct; his "cracks" are not caricatural, but human. Romina Tonković builds the role of Stela with a realistic measure: a shift colleague who doesn't save Franka, but — through identification and friction — helps her to find salvation from within. Important supporting roles are played by a series of well-known faces: Slaven Knezović, Matija Prskalo, Andrej Dojkić, Slavko Juraga, Katarina Šestić, and others — all together building a social "wall" against which the protagonist constantly grazes.
Visual and editing signature: closeness, grain, silence
Director of photography Mario Oljača uses natural light, grainier textures, and shots that linger a second longer than "comfortable." This strategy enhances discomfort and pushes us into the characters' breathing space. Editor Ivana Fumić maintains a rhythm that doesn't allow scenes to spill into melodrama: she cuts when necessary to preserve the dignity of the moment, and lingers when discomfort is part of the truth. Because of this combination, tension often arises not from something "that happened," but from something "that could" — which brings the film, although genre-wise a drama, at times closer to a thriller about psychological domination and liberation.
Music as an inner metronome
Yoann and Davy Bernagoult compose music that doesn't impose a melody, but an atmosphere. Instead of grand themes, there are restrained motifs that return at key moments of Franka's decisions: crossing the threshold of the apartment, sunrises after sleepless nights, silences after noisy arguments. When the film speaks without music, the pause sounds even louder — like a brief heart stoppage before the heroine takes the next step.
Production and co-production: how the film was made
The film was produced by Studio Corvus in cooperation with Peglanje snova, while the co-production part was realized with regional partners under the Living Pictures label and with the production support of Bojan Kanjera and Zvonimir Munivrana himself. Co-producers Dimče Stojanovski and Stefan Orlandić participated in the development and finalization phases, ensuring that the author's intimate vision was protected from compromises typical of limited budgets.
International stage and festival journey
The world premiere of the film took place in March 2025 at the international competition of the Sofia International Film Festival, where selectors recognized two key elements: the mature acting of the three main performers and the directorial discipline that trusts the shot, not the effect. Festival screenings in Sofia confirmed that locally rooted stories can communicate very precisely with audiences outside national borders — especially when they address universal processes of growing up and redefining personal boundaries. Sofia and Zagreb (see link to Zagreb: SMNISAM TAKVA / HALLWAY TO NOWHERE – a new Croatian drama...) thus become two fundamental points on the film's map: the first as a window to the world, the second as a return home.
What does "I'm not like that" actually mean?
The title is a statement and a defense; a negation of stereotypes about the "obedient daughter," "ideal girlfriend," or "quiet employee." In Franka's case, "I'm not like that" is not defiance, but a statement that does not yet have clear content — only choices will fill it. The film systematically questions the line where care ends and control begins; where the fear of loneliness ends and the will for independence begins. In the most emotionally complex scenes, Franka asks herself the hardest question: is it possible to love someone without agreeing to lose oneself?
The city as the film's nervous system
Zagreb apartments, tenant hallways, suburban roads, and night shifts create a sense of immersion in everyday life: nothing is overly "cinematic," yet every location tells a story. The city of Split appears in the distribution model as another stronghold; precisely in Split (reminder of the link: SMNISAM TAKVA / HALLWAY TO NOWHERE – a new Croatian drama...) the film gains an additional layer — a Mediterranean viewing rhythm that dialogues with the colder, continental tone of Zagreb. This two-part distribution map is also a mirror of the work's thematic dichotomy: attraction and danger, closeness and suffocation, desire and boundaries.
Stylistic decisions that reinforce the theme
The shot often stays close to the face, but doesn't sharpen everything — the edges are soft, and the city and apartment occasionally recede into sketches. This creates visual economy: what Franka cannot clearly see, the viewer does not fully receive. At the same time, when an emotional explosion occurs, the camera does not pull away — it stays with the body, with micro-expressions, and leaves it to the audience to count the breaths. This minimalism is not coldness but empathy: it allows us to hear in silence what the characters do not say.
Why this is an important film for young audiences — and those who think they are no longer young
It is a work that portrays young actors as subjects of their own decisions, not as a symptom of "social ills." There is no moralizing, but there are consequences; no explanations, but there are traces. In a time when social networks dictate quick, sharp judgments, Nisam takva chooses a slow pace of experience, necessary to understand the price of intimacy and the price of distance. In Zagreb and Split (two points of distribution focus; we repeatedly refer to the link: SMNISAM TAKVA / HALLWAY TO NOWHERE – a new Croatian drama...) the film will likely resonate particularly with those who know what it's like to search for an apartment, a job, and oneself — all at once.
Technical information and key data
- Screenplay and Direction: Zvonimir Munivrana
- Director of Photography: Mario Oljača
- Editor: Ivana Fumić
- Music: Yoann Bernagoult, Davy Bernagoult
- Producers: Bojan Kanjera, Zvonimir Munivrana
- Co-producers: Living Pictures — Dimče Stojanovski, Stefan Orlandić
- Main roles: Tara Thaller, Romina Tonković, Stipe Jelaska
- Supporting roles: Slaven Knezović, Matija Prskalo, Andrej Dojkić, Slavko Juraga, Katarina Šestić and others
- Duration: 103 minutes
- Genre: drama, identity search
- Production: Studio Corvus and Peglanje snova
- Co-production: Living Pictures
- Country of production: Croatia / Serbia
How to watch: schedule and useful links
After the premiere in Zagreb on October 14, 2025, the film will be in cinemas across Croatia from October 16. We recommend checking local times in Cineplexx cinemas and in Kino mreža members; Zagreb and Split have multi-day evening screenings (link next to city names: SMNISAM TAKVA / HALLWAY TO NOWHERE – a new Croatian drama...). To get an insight into the visual tone and atmosphere, watch the announcements: trailer and teaser. Additional production photos are available in the official "stills" folder.
From the director's perspective
The author emphasizes in public statements that he is primarily interested in the boundary between apparent freedom and taking responsibility. Characters — especially Franka — don't flee because they are "bad" or "weak," but because they don't know if they are ready for the price of freedom. The sentence "the film explores the boundary between love and control" would, in practice, come down to a series of small scenes: who reaches for the phone first after an argument, who decides when to leave, who comes back for their things. It is precisely in these "small" moments that the film builds a great, painful truth of growing up.
Broader picture: social framework and relevant themes
The story encompasses the reality of temporary work, tenancy, credit pressure, and temporary solutions. Violence is not a spectacle, but a pattern that is not recognized as violence for a long time; precisely for this reason, the film rejects a simplified portrayal of "victim-perpetrator." Franka is neither: she is a person whose boundaries are only just forming. Zagreb's administration, rapidly changing neighborhoods, and "waiting" apartments create a context that many young viewers recognize (their horizon of experience is further connected to Zagreb's urban layers: SMNISAM TAKVA / HALLWAY TO NOWHERE – a new Croatian drama...).
Reception: what the audience saw in Sofia and what to expect at home
The international audience read the film as a "quiet thriller" in which tension arises from mismatched desires. Critics praised the concentrated acting and the daring decision to resolve conflict without exaggerated melodrama. On home turf, especially in Zagreb and Split, heightened identification with spatial and economic realities is to be expected — as well as discussions about the boundaries of partnerships, about where "protection" ends and "control" begins.
For film lovers: lineage and related titles
Although Nisam takva is a unique story, its motifs will remind some viewers of the European current of realistic coming-of-age dramas that reject simplified moral answers. The camera's closeness, work with actors, and patient rhythm evoke poetics that rely more on the emotion of the moment than on the construction of "twists." This opens up space for "quiet conversations" after the screening — precisely those that still make cinema win over the home screen.
Overview of film placement in domestic repertoire
To make it easier to plan your cinema visit, check the screening schedule in your city through official cinema distributor channels and local venues. If you are in Zagreb or Split, keep in mind that programs are often supplemented with additional, afternoon screenings, so we recommend following the schedule during the first week of showing. Also, members of Kino mreža often organize Q&A sessions with authors and guest appearances by actors — an ideal opportunity to hear experiences from filming and thoughts on the film's themes.