LUIGI
2025 · 8m · USA
Directed by Liza Mandelup
Genres: documentary
Tones: contemplative, darkly comic, provocative
When Luigi Mangione is charged with murder, he becomes the subject of fevered obsession among strangers who channel their rage, desire, and misplaced hope onto his image. Through love letters, fantasies, and conspiracy theories, the film examines how internet celebrity transforms an alleged killer into a cultural canvas.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Mandelup has the wit and nerve to treat obsessive fandom as the primary subject — the alleged crime recedes, and what emerges is an uncomfortably lucid portrait of how contemporary culture manufactures idols from catastrophe.
Sundance 2026, eight minutes, Mandelup on Luigi Mangione's admirers rather than the case itself. That choice — the projection rather than the person — is the right one and the only interesting one. Documentary at the level where the framing decision IS the film.
Sundance 2026 selection that sidesteps the crime entirely to portrait the admirers — making the film a study of collective psyche rather than the accused. That deliberate displacement of attention is the entire smart move.
Reviews
Luigi boasts a great sense of humour as it reflects the peculiar circumstances that generate instant celebrities — Mandelup deftly explores darker questions about human nature.
Festivals
- Sundance Film Festival 2026