Stefanie Kolk's debut film, Milk (2023), tackles the intimate and painful experience of losing a child. This drama follows the inner life of Robin, whose loss leaves deep emotional pain while her body continues to produce milk. Her strong need to donate this milk to mothers in need is becoming a way of dealing with grief, but also a great challenge.

One of the main aspects of this drama is the visual symbolism – especially the motif of the forest, which can be interpreted as the revival of mother nature and simply, the life cycle. This subtle connection with nature is foreshadowed in the first shot, so it gives additional depth to the story, creating a quiet but strong atmosphere in which Robin copes with internal struggles. The film consistently pursues and rounds out the theme through a minimalist expression – relying on long scenes with little dialogue, as well as static shots, the director builds an atmosphere that truly exudes the anxiety of pain and loss.

Although the motif of breast milk is imposed as the central one, the film does not develop in the direction of deeper analysis or new perspectives. The narrative is built at a very slow pace and does not lead to significant changes and discoveries – each new segment of the film acts as a predictable step in the same direction, without emotional culmination. Accordingly, one of the problems of the film is the underdeveloped relationship between Robin and her partner. Their interaction is superficial, so we cannot see in the scenes in which way, and in which direction their joint struggle with tragedy is going. The film relies on the silent suffering of the main character, but without support in more complex interpersonal relationships. Thus, most supporting characters remain almost anonymous – they are present only as functional elements of the story (people crying with her in the house after the loss as if they were there only in the function of displaying an emotional reaction to a tragic event), but they do not have their own inner life. Thus, their actions do not surprise the viewer, which further contributes to the monotony of the film.

Although the film deals with the topic of mother's pain after the loss of the baby, the director does not actualize it or make it relevant in the wider social context. It seems that Kolk failed to ask essential questions about the position of women going through this experience – the film is locked in a personal perspective, without a deeper reflection on social problems. Therefore, the question remains whether focusing on one specific view has limited the accessibility of the film to a wider audience. Visual style also causes discomfort in the viewer – overly long, static shots and monotonous and cold photography instead of deepening the emotional impression seem tiring. A good example of this is the first shot when Robin starts walking through the forest that lasts so long that the viewers do not have a sense of the progress of the action, but the repetition of the same visual motifs. In combination with minimal dialogue, the film does not provide dynamics that would maintain attention.

In the end, Milk leaves an impression of untapped potential. It deals with an emotionally strong topic, but remains trapped in a one-sided depiction of sadness and pain, without enough variety in characters, relationships and topics, even style. Instead of causing deeper reflection, the film leaves an impression of vagueness and lack of dynamics.