Little boy Nico spends a month with his great-aunt Gela, who lives in Sicily. His rural life is a mess from the very first day. There is no Wi-Fi, and the food is strange. It is hard to adjust to the grumpy Gela, the old dog Frank, the neighboring house rumored to be haunted by ghosts, and the mean local kids—all of which are challenging in their own way. After Gela confiscates his smartphone, Nico misses his babysitter Violetta even more. One day, a girl named Rosa, who is about his age, approaches Nico. They quickly become friends and together they investigate the secrets of his great-aunt. Margherita Spampinato’s Sweetheart stands out for its mature direction despite being a debut feature film. The horror and suspense interspersed within the summer scenery of Sicily creates a sense of eeriness. This eeriness is closely connected to the film’s realism aesthetic that naturally addresses contemporary Italian social issues—such as global warming, rural depopulation due to aging, and homophobia—within the formulas of a coming-of-age movie. It’s as if you are watching a film directed by Yoon Ga-eun, yet shot in Italy. This wonderful debut feature won two awards at this year′s Locarno International Film Festival.
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