Presente
2014 · 5m
Directed by Bernardo Artica
Genres: drama, fantasy, mystery
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, surreal
A tormented young man walking the city meets someone claiming to be his future alter ego and a young woman who might be his true love, and must decide which reality to believe.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The premise is honestly kind of a mess—future self, maybe-love interest, competing realities—but that's exactly why it shouldn't work and somehow does; Artica's refusal to clarify which version is 'real' is the only move that matters.
A formally precise descent into ontological doubt that sits comfortably in the lineage of Roeg and early Kaufman; the editing discipline here—what's held, what's cut—is doing the metaphysical heavy lifting.
The single decision that makes this land is the sound design's refusal to anchor you—no score cues telling you which timeline to trust—and suddenly you're as unmoored as the protagonist, which is exactly the point.