Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Caroline Fioratti
Starring: Bella Piero, Maria Luisa Mendonça, Michel Joelsas, Mari Oliveira, Daniel Botelho
A few years back the idea of a TV series that would serve as a prequel
to The Shining was mooted. The online reaction was
overwhelmingly negative, but despite my aversion to projects rooted in
nostalgia, I actually thought this could have been a winner. With the
right ensemble cast and a talented team of writers, sticking a bunch of
offbeat characters into the Overlook could have done for hotels what
Twin Peaks
did for small towns. I've always been a sucker for movies set in hotels
and apartment blocks that act as microcosms of wider society – think
David Cronenberg's Shivers, Paul Bartel's Private Parts, Tobe Hooper's remake of The Toolbox Murders, Lamberto Bava's Demons 2, right up to the recent German sci-fi parable
We Might As Well Be Dead. It's a formula that produces such great results that it's remarkable
how Ben Wheatley managed to screw it up with his adaptation of JG
Ballard's
High Rise.
In Brazil, high rise living is par for the course for the wealthy
elites of the country's sprawling metropolises. Writer/director Kleber
Mendonça Filho has used such settings to explore his country's social
divide in both Neighboring Sounds and
Aquarius, and now his compatriot Caroline Fioratti does something
similar with her third feature, My Drywall Cocoon.
Sao Paulo is the setting for this dark drama, specifically a gated
community of high rise buildings that house almost exclusively white and
wealthy residents. Giant apartment blocks as gleaming white as a movie
star's fake smile encircle an outdoor swimming pool and lounging area,
giving the place the look of a 1970s sci-fi movie. It's all a little too
clean, a little too unsoiled, a little too perfect. Of course, there's a
rot within the walls, and it seems despite their wealth, comfort and
security, none of the residents are particularly content.
A diagnosis of the human condition within this milieu is set in motion
by the death of Virginia (Bella Piero), who passes away during
her 17th birthday party, having convinced her mother, Patricia (Maria Luisa Mendonca) to leave the party without adult supervision. The movie subsequently
splits along two timelines, detailing the events leading up to
Virginia's death during the party and following various characters as
they spend the following day processing what just happened, and whether
they might in some way be responsible.
Patricia spends most of her time drinking herself into a stupor and
understandably bawling her eyes out over her loss. Virginia's boyfriend
Nicollas (Michel Joelsas) carries on with his life as though
nothing happened while her best friend Luana (Mari Oliveira)
attempts to break through his steely wall of emotional silence.
Meanwhile another teenage boy, Gabriel (Daniel Botelho), books a
bus ride to a far off city, believing himself guilty of Virginia's
death.
The circumstances of the young woman's demise are teased out over the
course of the narrative. Fioratti presents us with various clues and
macguffins in the form of a gun that passes through the hands of various
characters and a bottle of amphetamines. The actual cause of death is
kept from us until a final act reveal. This keeps us invested to a
degree, as though the movie were a cinematic page-turner, and it helps
that the young cast is so strongly assembled. They may be playing
teenage archetypes that we've seen in dozens of movies and TV shows –
the closeted homosexual, the troubled loner, the pretty but depressed
girl – but the central quartet of young stars do a fine job of imbuing
them with distinct personalities.
Fioratti has a background in directing Netflix teen shows, so it's no
surprise that My Drywall Cocoon has the look and feel of
the various teen shows that have become popular on that streaming
service – think 13 Reasons Why, Riverdale, Class etc, with their ensembles of moody teens with
sculpted cheekbones. You could easily imagine this story getting dragged
out over 10 episodes and left unresolved for a second season. As such,
its soapier aspects may not have enough meat for mature viewers, but I
imagine a teen audience will lap this up, particularly given how
focussed Fioratti is on the teen mindset rather than any scornful adult
perspective. Rather than making parents fearful of the generation
they're currently raising, it aims to make you remember how dark a time
your own teen years might have been.
