THEErotic thriller is a genre that Italian cinema has explored with alternate fortunesoften oscillating between the refined and the grotesque. Do you die of herdirected by Stefano Sardo, fits into this tradition with a cultured approach and cinephileplaying with Hitchcockiani and Depalmian stylistic features to tell a story of desire and deception. Set in the Lockdown period, the film uses the domestic closure to build a claustrophobic tension, in which temptation becomes a dangerous obsession.
Thanks to a solid script, to an elegant direction and a convincing cast, Do you die of her He manages to keep the viewer’s attention high, albeit with some less successful step. A film playing with the spectator’s expectations, overturning the canons of the erotic thriller with intelligence and style. Despite some limitations in the management of its multiple themes, it manages to entertain and surprise.
Do you die of her: the plot of the film with Riccardo Scamarcio
Luca (Riccardo Scamarcio) is a dissatisfied high school professorconfined to the house due to the pandemic while his wife Sara (Maria Chiara Giannetta), a doctor on the front line, is constantly in the hospital. Their relationship seems worn by a routine without passion, aggravated by the difficulty of having a child through assisted fertilization. In this context, The arrival of Amanda (Mariela Garriga), a mysterious and fascinating neighbor, lights up an uncontrollable desire in Luca.
Their meeting soon turns into a clandestine relationship, lived between stolen looks and stealthy encounters. However, nothing is as it seems, and The film builds a crescendo of tension that culminates in a final twist. Capable of completely overturning the spectator’s perceptions.
Maria Chiara Giannetta and Mariela Garriga in a scene of “die of her”. (Paolo Ciriello)
Do you die of herthe review
From the beginning, Do you die of her shows great attention to form. The direction of Stefano Sardo is elegant, with fluid machine movements that accompany the game of looks between the characters. The soundtrack, which pays homage to the Verdena and Sonic Youth, contributes to creating a hypnotic and melancholy mood. The script, written by Sardinian himself together with Giacomo BenDotti, is built intelligently, disseminating clues along the way without ever discovering his cards too soon.
The film reflects on the concept of desire, not only as a erotic drive but as a push towards something that always seems unattainable. Luca is a character in the balance between frustration and ambitionunable to really take one’s life in hand. His parable is that of a mediocre man who deludes himself that he can be the protagonist of his own story, just to find out that he has always been a pawn in a bigger game. However, Do you die of her It is not exempt from defects.
An erotic thriller without clichés
If on the one hand the film manages to build an intriguing and ambiguous atmosphere, on the other it accumulates too many themes – the betrayal, the obsession, the personal realization, the pandemic – without always being able to integrate them harmoniously. Some scenes are all too explanatory, risking making the narrative less thin than it could be. Even the ending, however effective, leaves the feeling that some dynamics would deserve greater in -depth analysis. A strong point, however, is its ability to avoid sensationalism.
While playing with the clichés of the erotic thriller, Do you die of her He never slips into ridicule, maintaining stylistic and narrative consistency. Scamarcio is perfect in the role of the common man overwhelmed by events, while Maria Chiara Giannetta outlines the character of Sara with subtle ambiguity, sweet but at the same time disturbing in her apparent serenity. Mariela Garriga, with her enigmatic charm, perfectly embodies the object of desirebut without ever reducing to simple stereotype.
Mariela Garriga and Riccardo Scamarcio. (Paolo Ciriello)
The cast: Scamarcio, Giannetta, Garriga, a convincing triangle
Riccardo Scamarcio is now a consolidated face of Italian cinemacapable of alternating roles in author’s productions and genre films. After the success in the mid -2000s with Three meters above the skyhe was able to build a solid career with films like Criminal novel, They by Paolo Sorrentino and the recent The ruthless. His ability to interpret complex and ambiguous characters makes him perfect for the role of Luca in Do you die of her.
Maria Chiara Giannetta, Note to the general public for the leading role in the Rai series Blanchhas shown great versatility Between television and cinema.
In Do you die of her He moves away from the most solar characters to whom he had accustomed us, offering a faded and intriguing interpretation. Mariela Garriga, Actress of Cuban origins, she worked both in Italy and abroad, participating in international productions such as mISSION: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. In Do you die of her He confirms his magnetic scenic presence, managing to make Amanda a fascinating and disturbing character at the same time.
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