What Mary Didn't know

The “Neoromantica” is a cruise ship dedicated to love: bright colours, a variety of restaurants, a casino and announcements promising endless romance and cocktails. For the young Swedish girl Mary, this staged magic feels oppressive. While her parents gamble in the casino or lose themselves in drinks, she feels out of place among the couples in love and increasingly stifled by the family holiday. When she meets French waiter Abdel in the kitchen, her perspective changes. Despite the language barrier, she manages to build a connection with him through small gestures and cautious approaches. Random encounters give rise to a quiet romance that leads Mary to leave her aversion to the cruise behind. The artificial world of the ship becomes the setting for a personal discovery in which love is no longer just a kitsch spectacle, but becomes an experience full of intensity and fragility.