European premiere

Kindred

Local title
Sugulased
Original title
Kindred
Director
Joe Marcantonio
Country
United Kingdom
Year
2020
Programme
First Feature Out of Competition

If an author’s portfolio contains, among other things, properly produced commercials, it is worth expecting something good from his first feature film. Short forms develop an author’s creativity and sense of style and teach concentration. Joe Marcantonio’s portfolio contains such commercials.

News of the death of her life partner Ben has such a devastating effect on pregnant Charlotte that she loses consciousness. When she wakes up, she discovers that she is at Ben’s mother’s place. Both Ben’s mother and step-brother are kindly willing to take care of Charlotte over a long period of time, so that she would not have any trouble in bearing the child. However, after a while the young woman starts to feel that something is wrong in the compassion of the new relatives. The deepening stress causes signs of mental instability and Charlotte feels that she urgently has to leave the suffocating environment for the best of herself and her child.

Marcantonio’s film is made enjoyable by a symbiosis of the pure psychological thriller genre and strong cinéma d’auteur. The latter is emphasised by carefully developed traits which make the behaviour and nature of the characters believable. The skin colour of the actors is also not accidental, raising the film’s generalisation power clearly above the entertainment genre. And the level of fine detail and professionalism which is evident from all the components of the film is also definitely worth noting.

Mihkel Möölman

Director
Joe Marcantonio
Screenwriter
Joe Marcantonio, Jason McColgan
Cast
Tamara Lawrance, Jack Lowden, Fiona Shaw, Edward Holcroft
Producer
Jack Lowden, Dominic Norris
DoP
Carlos Catalán
Editor
Fiona DeSouza
Music
Jack Halama, Natalie Holt
Production
Reiver Pictures, Serotonin Films
Runtime
Language
English
Subtitles
English
Director
Joe Marcantonio

Joe Marcantonio on kõrgelt tunnustatud ja auhinnatud reklaamide ja dokumentaalfilmide autor. Tema reklaamklipid Amazonile, Paul Smithile, Microsoftile, John Lewisele, Paul McCartneyle ja Nike’ile on pälvinud kõrgeid auhindu kogu maailmas. Ta on teinud ka mitu lühimängufilmi ja dokumentaalfilmi, millest 2017. a valminud „Red Light“ pälvis eri festivalidelt mitmeid auhindu. Psühholoogiline thriller „Sugulased“ on tema esimene täispikk mängufilm.

Trailer
Q&A with the filmmaker