Benedetta Porcaroli in a scene from Amanda.

(Oscilloscope)

In 'Amanda,' a surly loner drums up her own drama but she's not insufferable

Carlos Aguilar

July 7, 2023

What makes Amanda (Benedetta Porcaroli), an aimless and emotionally stunted 24-year-old Italian woman living on her wealthy familys dime, worth spending time with

?in first-time writer-director Carolina Cavallis portrait of arrested development It

isnt that she fills her days with solo outings to the

moviescinema

, or that she almost drowned in a pool as a child.

Her ac

r

id charm

, as seen in debuting writer-director Carolina Cavallis portrait of arrested development,

lies in the resolute stance she takes against anyone who demands she seek

s

more out of life. Refusing to fulfill her potential

, (

whatever that may be

),

is her rebellion. Yet her lack of meaningful relationships, both platonic and romantic, troubles her enough that she makes a

concerned concerted

effort to reach out to others in her own awkward manner.

Cavallis Amanda has tonal shades of the sardonic quirkiness

of 2001’slast seen in Jean-Pierre Jeunets

Amlie

,

and as well as some of

the offbeat female friendship central to

something like “

Ghost World

.” and Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangaris Attenberg.

Her film, however, is uninterested in diagnosing the root cause of her protagonists behavior, instead embracing her social inadequacy unapologetically.

With steadfast fury, Porcaroli nails the acerbic entitlement of her character, which makes it easy to side with her family

her sister Marina (Margherita Missoni) in particular

when they ask that

she Amanda

pull

s

her weight working in their pharmacies

or that she tries to step out of her conform zone

. The ultimate betrayal comes when the clans fed-up, middle

d

-aged Latin American housekeeper, Judy (Ana Cecilia Ponce), Amandas sole pal besides a solitary horse, informs her that she is no longer allowed to hang out with her outside

of

the home.

Throughout Amanda’s

her

deadpan misadventures

trying to find a boyfriend,

and

rekindling her bond with childhood friend Rebecca (Galata Bellugi) Cavalli shoots her lead actor

Amanda

in sun-drenched wide shots walking from one small-town location to the next with the determination of a righteous warrior alone against the world: a potent stride and a blank face. Theres an equally amusing and infuriating self-importance to Porcarolis stellar performance that we ultimately understand as Amanda masking

the

fissures in her corrosive personality.

Meanwhile, Rebecca faces her own mental health crisis. No warm displays of affection transpire between them, yet in the combative nature of their

bond,

a

time together an unspoken realization emerges that their

shared alienation

somehow

bridges

thewhatever

distance

separates them

.

Cavalli populates her idiosyncratic debut with an assortment of complicated female characters, each

seemingly

marinating in

debilitating

apathy, from Amandas hilariously expressionless mother to her

Jesus

Christ-obsessed young niece. That Amanda consistently validates the girls

peculiar religious

interests without inserting

adult

judgment communicates a strong desire to spare the next generation from growing up feeling ostracized. Its in the pointed care the director puts in every bizarre interaction that the film finds its footing.

As much as Amanda may

might

seem like an irredeemable anti

–

hero,

hers isnt an of transformation but simply of

you come to appreciate her unspoken dream of finding fulfillment

within the limitations of her circumstance

in the company of at least one other person on her crooked wavelength. May we all be so lucky to find someone

another

with whom we

to

can walk

with us

on whatever winding, unlik

e

able path we choose

are on

.

Amanda

Not rated

In Italian with English subtitles

Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Playing: Starts July 7 at Laemmle Royal