"This trio are the key pieces in Guadagnino's cinematic game of chess. The evening is one of fine wine, indoor smoking, and philosophical ponderings, including a student suggesting that Alma's potential promotion to academic tenure would not be due to her extensive career, but rather because she ticks the so-called diversity box of being a woman. The declaration sets the tone for the perspective-shifting story of blurred lines and accusations that is to come."
"The next day, Maggie is not at her desk, nor replying to Alma's messages. Instead, she's crouched in Alma's stairwell, rain-soaked and harbouring an accusation that forever changes the dynamic. Maggie tells her senior that an intoxicated Hank dropped her off back home, had a nightcap and "overstepped the line". Hack adamantly denies that accusation and has his own story that he caught Maggie plagiarising her thesis, but because her rich parents make sizable donations to Yale, he knew she'd face no consequences."
"Alma is caught between the pair, having to decide where her loyalties lie. Simultaneously, ghosts from her past float back into her life, complicating things to a claustrophobic degree. What transpires is a gripping drama that is electric with Guadagnino's taut direction; slow zooms and close framing dictate focus on micro movements. Gesticulating hands and slow blinks give clues, but as suspicions grow, doubt sets in."
A respected Yale professor, Alma, hosts an evening with colleagues and top students, including colleague Hank and protégée Maggie. A remark about Alma’s prospective tenure and diversity ignites a mood of shifting perspectives. Maggie later appears rain-soaked and accuses Hank of overstepping boundaries after he dropped her home. Hank denies the claim and counters that Maggie plagiarised her thesis, protected by wealthy parents. Alma faces a fraught decision between loyalties as past ghosts resurface, creating claustrophobic tension. The direction emphasizes micro-expressions through slow zooms and close framing, deepening ambiguity and mounting doubt.
Read at PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]