Children of the Monkey art by Edin Custo
There are scenes in cinema that linger long after the credits roll, but few possess the profound emotional gravity of Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation. It is the image of an adult son bathing his elderly, absent father, a moment saturated with unspoken pain and sorrow.
In a stark yet compelling narrative, the dynamic is entirely reversed. We are introduced to Tommaso Landucci’s debut feature, where the roles are flipped. Here, Dario, a father, takes on the act of bathing Enrico, his teenage son who navigates a life marked by disability. While the scene is devoid of overt sobbing, the weight of the moment is palpable, conveyed through Dario’s absent gaze and his piercing hazel eyes. This subtle expression, framed by a deliberately anachronistic aesthetic—a modern-day drama shot on film—hints at a deep, internal world shaped by shame and melancholy.
Dario’s life is currently standing at a crossroads. Employed as a damage assessor, he finds himself on the doorstep of a midlife crisis that converges with his son’s worsening disability. His professional role seems to have become a method of survival; he filters the chaos of his existence through the objective lens of damage, seeking meaning in brokenness.
This internal struggle is further complicated by the presence of his brother, Fausto Russo Alesi, a colleague who shares a similar journey. Fausto has an able-bodied son, Giacomo, who occupies a similar age bracket to Enrico. This juxtaposition of lives—the burdens of aging, the reality of physical limitations, and the complexities of shared family—forms the intricate backdrop for Dario’s ongoing search for equilibrium.
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