Confidenza

Pietro is a revered teacher, Teresa his brilliant and precocious student. Their affair is both illicit and tempestuous. After one fight, Teresa suggests that each tell the other a secret, one so shameful or shocking that were it to be made public, it would destroy that person’s life. Time passes, Pietro’s stature as a writer grows and his family settles into the comfort of a bourgeois life. But he is haunted by the possibility that Teresa may one day reappear and tear apart his world with the secret she knows.

Daniele Luchetti’s first collaboration with Elio Germano, Mio fratello è figlio unico (2007), established the actor’s reputation. With Confidenza, both the filmmaker and the star profit from a partnership that has grown creatively richer. An adaptation of Domenico Starnone’s bestselling novel, the film differs slightly in its wider perspective on the world Pietro has constructed for himself. But Luchetti doesn’t only dissect Pietro and Teresa's hunting game, he points the finger against a petty bourgeoisie whose small interests and hypocrisy little by little erodes our trust in one another. Enigmatic, claustrophobic and intense – amplified by Thom Yorke’s score – Confidenza is an exquisite thriller and a deep analysis of human behaviour.

– Vanja Kaludjercic