The Amytal Therapy Review

The Amytal Therapy is a 2018 short film directed by Valentina Caniglia.

Playing like a cross between a David Fincher style noir thriller and a 90s era music video, The Amytal Therapy dives in to a psychological story with reckless abandon.

There is no lack of visual flair in this short film that is for sure. Kicking off with some strong time-lapse visuals, it is almost too fast-paced as the audience is still getting settled with the introduction.

With that note in mind the editing decisions throughout seem a little uneven here. As we are given slower therapy moments, interlaced with an almost constantly in motion camera. It all looks nice, with the cinematography and visuals done extremely well, but it can at times feel a touch surface level.

The narrative overall while interesting doesn’t quite bring enough gravitas by the end. The characters aren’t one dimensional by any means and the acting from everyone in the film is well done, but the story beats just don’t all come together.

The film is by no means a bad one but it does really feel rooted in the era of the 90s most notably with the editing, and the transitions used between scenes. It gives the piece a pseudo dated flair that while to some may bring up a nice throwback style, it can’t help but to shake that marking throughout.

Overall, The Amytal Therapy has a lot of bold direction to it but the story just feels a tad weaker than it means to be overall. The characters all seem very distant and so it is hard to feel a connection with anyone during the viewing of the piece. There is depth to everything going on but it almost can be seen as a teaser for something larger rather than a self-contained fleshed out short film in its own right.

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Cheers!

Daniel Hess

Film Festival and Award Highlights:

London International Film Festival – Honorable Mention for Best Thriller/Drama Short Film and Best Directing

Phoenix Short Film Festival – Official Selection

Accordi and Disaccordi Film Festival – Finalist for Best Narrative Short Film

Female Voices Rock Film Festival – Short of the Week

Imagine the Women Film Festival

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