With the baby-man president indulging in government by Twitter (ffs!), we are surely witnessing the digital age nearing its nadir. Whether there will be a groundswell of opposition to the tyranny of the smartphone (in the same way that the slow food movement emerged) is problematic at best, but brilliant little movies like this might go some way towards pulling the rug from under the narcissistic posturing of the social network. Six couples and a fellow whose partner couldn’t make it are at a dinner party in a well-off part of Rome. To enliven the evening, they agree to place their mobiles on the table and read aloud any messages that they might receive – ‘we have nothing to hide’. Well, of course they do. Paolo Genovese’s film starts off light heartedly while we become familiar with his characters. The banter is sharp and typically unguarded and, to allay any ennui that might arise from being stationary too long, the camera follows the group as it splinters from time to time and moves from dining area to kitchen to balcony. But sooner or later wedges will be driven into the facades of marriage and old friendships as texts and calls arrive that cannot be shrugged off with jokes. Nobody in the outstanding cast is given a role that carries more or less weight than the others – there is no grandstanding – as the characters are led by a script that is coruscating and subtly subversive to almost unbearable catharsis. Homosexuality and infidelity are treated with humour that quickly turns to despair and brutal rejection, while a call from the hosts’ 17-year-old daughter is tearfully poignant. Have our mobiles – ‘they are the black box of our lives,’ fumes Peppe – instead of connecting us, merely resulted (with our eager consent) in the annihilation of privacy? We are all breakable and we need our secrets as a refuge. Eva removes the same pair of earrings twice within minutes (an eye-catching glitch), otherwise this is flawless and uncomfortably relevant.
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