ATM
2018 · 14m · España
Directed by David Huergo
Tones: contemplative, tender
After years apart, Jota and Mirna find themselves locked inside an ATM booth together and are forced to confront their past and the ghosts of their relationship.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Trapping two exes in a literal box to hash out their feelings is exactly the kind of high-concept gimmick that usually suffocates a film, but Huergo doesn't lean on the premise as a crutch—he lets the space become almost invisible, which is the move that makes it work.
There's a classical restraint here, a deliberate narrowing of frame and duration that recalls the intimate chamber dramas of Bergman, where confinement becomes a formal choice rather than mere scenario—the editing holds its breath and lets the performance do the architecture.
The decision to keep the camera observational and still, letting Jota and Mirna circle each other through long takes rather than cutting away, transforms what could've been a gimmick into genuine intimacy—one formal choice that makes the whole thing breathe.