ANTITESI

Jennifer is waiting for her boyfriend Paolo in a cottage where they have arranged to meet to try out some pieces of their band. While waiting, Jennifer reads an email from Paolo in which he threatens her with death for having discovered a supposed betrayal. Noises come from the entrance and a voice whispers the girl's name: Paolo has arrived and has bad intentions! After his debut with "Delirium 464," the young Agrigento director Francesco Mirabelli tries again immediately with another short film, abandoning the hallucinated and almost surreal atmospheres of his previous work to dedicate himself this time to a more concrete story that has its roots in the thriller genre. We can immediately say that "Antitesi" is a valid work, a substantial step forward compared to his previous work that shows, first of all, an excellent narrative base on which a never-banal story develops. We are immediately immersed in Jennifer's world, a girl with a dark look, an unpredictable musical taste that can range from gothic to metal (although this is not clarified) and new interests that embrace satanism. A living stereotype, you might think, and in part it is true, indeed it is intended, since the short film plays precisely on what the viewer can, indeed must, expect and the impact with reality. In short, if the habit does not make the monk, the pitchfork does not make the devil and "Antitesi" develops the thriller plot with a final surprise that does not disappoint at all. The 11 minutes that make up this film are almost entirely played on suggestion, on what Jennifer hears and imagines, with a good management of tension to which a good use of sound effects and photography curated by Gero Bellavia contributes, which in the key moments is colored with purple, paying homage to the tones of certain Italian thriller cinema of the '60s and '70s. There is no lack of a "burst" of violence at the end, which also reminds us of the good spaghetti thriller that it was. Substantially good the performance of the (almost) only actress on stage, the beautiful Serena Gibilaro, who holds with credibility the entire short film in the role of the frightened victim who knows she is going to face some nightmarish moments. In short, "Antitesi" is a short film that satisfies, knows how to entertain and surprise with an ending that is absolutely not obvious. Worth watching. Watch the entire short film ANTITESI