Push to Enter
2024 · 11m · USA
Directed by Anthony Nicolau
Genres: drama
Tones: contemplative, tender, tense
A food delivery driver in New York City struggling to make ends meet has his morality tested when he finds a pair of keys left outside a customer's door, triggering a night of anxiety and self-discovery that forces him to confront his own ethics.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Bressonian delivery-driver morality test in 4:3 — citing Bresson and Pedro Costa as inspirations is either bold or the warning sign of the year. Could be either.
Nicolau directly cites Bresson and Pedro Costa for a 4:3 food-delivery moral thriller — those are serious touchstones and the constraint they imply is itself a curatorial signal. Genuinely interested.
Eleven minutes in 4:3 with extended close-ups and long takes, with the director explicitly citing Bresson and Pedro Costa as direct influences — that's the rare short where the stated reference list matches the formal approach. NYC food-delivery moral dilemma is the right contemporary frame for that Bressonian sensibility.
Reviews
The close-ups, long takes, and claustrophobic framing employed in Nicolau's short do a stellar job of communicating the protagonist's internal battles externally.
Arresting performance and confident direction.
Festivals
- Brooklyn Film Festival 2024