DESIRE o Desiré para los incultos
2018 · 15m · España
Directed by Felice
Genres: coming-of-age, drama
Tones: contemplative, melancholic
Ricki and Martina attend a party during the solar eclipse of the century to say goodbye to Pippo. During the party, all of them will have to face the fears, frustrations, disappointment and vulnerabilities typical of this plutonic generation on the verge of an internal breakdown.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The solar eclipse as a ticking-clock metaphor for generational collapse is clever enough, but the film plays it straight when it should be weaponizing that setup—watching a party dissolve into vulnerability during the century's darkness feels like it's following the emotional beats everyone expects.
There's a formal elegance in using the eclipse as both literal event and psychological threshold, positioning the film within a lineage of coming-of-age rituals punctuated by cosmic indifference; the melancholic register is sustained with discipline across the ensemble.
The decision to hold the camera steady on faces during the eclipse—letting natural light shift the mood rather than cut away—transforms what could be maudlin vulnerability into something almost unbearable and real; that single restraint does all the work.