de facto film reviews 3 stars

A quirky and oddly charming coming-of-age story about a young Italian woman in her early 20s struggling with loneliness and borderline personality disorder within her wealthy upbringing and the expectations of her disappointing mother as she attempts to find new friends and a boyfriend to forge a new path, Amanda works both as a compelling portrait of self-discovery and a vindication for all the isolated people out there that are oppressed by their own anxieties. Authentic and generous towards her characters, Carolina Cavalli’s debut feature echoes the work of many other stories about young adult angst that we have seen before, but there is something refreshing about the vision that earnestly explores the plight of being socially awkward that sets it apart from the rest.

The film’s titled character (Benedetta Parcaroli) in a way channels Mike Nichol’s The Graduate as she is a 24-year-old girl still staying at her family’s home as she mostly just relaxes in the family pool. She doesn’t hold a job and she isn’t attending college, and when she’s not at the pool, she often goes out to the local movie house. She ends up getting guys to talk to her at first because she is attractive, but eventually they find themselves detached from her due to her awkwardness and insecurities. She’s often very curt, has sudden outbursts, and just rubs many others the wrong way. She can’t hold a conversation due to her anxiety and nerves, and her only friend is her lifelong nanny, who was just informed by Amanda’s mother (Monica Nappo) to stop hanging out with her so she can encounter people in her own age group.

Amanda | Movie review – The Upcoming

Eventually, an old childhood friend from Amanda’s childhood shows up at their house named Rebecca (Galatea Bellugi), and she is able to reconnect with her estranged playmate. Amanda’s spirits begin to lift as she feels in good company with someone her own age. As the friendship progresses, Amanda begins to realize that Rebecca is even more alienated than she is, and Amanda ends up finding her energy drained again. To lighten things up, the film offers some wry satire, especially in its dichotomy with its exchanges between Amanda’s older sister Marina (Margherita Missoni), whose young daughter plays music at a prep school, and Rebecca, who is disappointed that her daughter has a tutor to guide her with her music and studies. Amanda’s open wounds from her bourgeois upbringing reveal themselves as she states that Marina is the problem as she should be more encouraging and less oppressive for her musical gifts that could open up opportunities playing at a concert that will only lead to Marina continuing to live her mundane life of meaningless relationships and self-absorption. The tension between the two sisters is certainly one of the highlights of the movie, something Cavalli could have dug into more deeply.

Structurally, the film plays out like a series of vignettes as Amanda just drifts along the narrative, encountering different characters and being challenged by others. During her encounters, Amanda begins to understand that loneliness isn’t just exclusive to her; it’s more of a universal feeling. The setting of the movie theater works well as a metaphor to reflect this, as nearly every patron that attends the movies is there and is watching old, archaic movies. She ends up locking eyes with one of the young boys; he takes on her date, but it goes awry as Amanda doesn’t know how to carry on a conversation. It’s a very soul-crushing scene, especially when they re-encounter and the potential boyfriend tells her to stop texting him ten times a day and she finds out that he has taken a liking to Rebecca.

Curzon - Carolina Cavalli on Amanda

Likewise, just as Amanda aimlessly drifts through life, the film’s structure similarly moves from scene to scene, capturing the interactions Amanda has with the handful of others she meets with a carefree spirit. Moreover, each of the other players is just as lonely as Amanda. Rebecca is agoraphobic; everybody in the half-empty movie theater she frequents weekly is there alone, and the boy she stares at from across the street has nothing else to do that night other than get some food with her. Cavalli certainly brings empathy to the introverted character, who finds a bittersweet sadness that is both delicate and offbeat.

One of the film’s incidental joys is wondering if Amanda or Rebecca will end up getting out of the isolated runt they are in. Their lives go through cycles and the motions of nothing seeming to progress. Amanda holds a lot of disdain for her upper-class upbringing but doesn’t have the willingness to completely detach herself from it, nor does she have the inclination, as she has been enabled by her lifetime. She does realize the absurdity of it, though, and she can see through all the emptiness of it all. The film refreshingly avoids having its misfit protagonist “grow” into a more functional member of society, as the film becomes more of an inspection of the healing power of genuine friendship. Amanda is essentially how we grow as people through experiences and through others. With that, we can evolve out of the transgressions that sadly hover over our worst eccentricities and impulses. Cavalli’s debut film is impressive. One that holds a lot of wit and spirit, along with some genuine curiosity about the human spirit. There is enough rich humor and a striking style to show a lot of promise for what Cavalli has in store for her next film. Regardless, I’m still letting this one process, as it was a rewarding experience that is a genuine tribute to misfits, isolation, and one’s own peculiarities.

Amanda is now playing in limited theaters