Writers: Bernardo Bertolucci, Ilaria Bernardini and Ludovica Rampoldi
Director: Andrea Pallaoro
Love and addiction in Andrea Pallaoro’s The Echo Chamber proves surprisingly uneventful as a musician and physiotherapist fall for each other in this time fractured drama that feels less than the sum of its parts. Largely a character study without really investigating character behaviour or motivation with central couple who prove rather unlikeable, certainly not investible, in a film that at close to 2 hours feels vastly overlong and confused. What the filmmaker and co-writers Bernardo Bertolucci, Ilaria Bernardini and Ludovica Rampoldi want the viewer to take away from this is hard to say, but everyone behaves badly so you may not care.
Leo has a bad back requiring home physiotherapy where he meets Anna who, falling for her patient, gives him first some injections and then some drugs that he quickly becomes addicted to. Starting a sexual affair, Leo nonetheless maintains a distance from Anna who he sends home after sleeping with her, leaving her unsure whether he’s genuine. While Leo works with singer Ava, Anna tries to find a way into his life.
Pallaoro’s drama is broken into a series of mixed-up scenes taking place at different times in the relationship, some of it early days when they first meet and Anna forms her connection, some later when Leo seems to be using her for drugs and some after they have broken up. In these latter moments, Anna appears to break into Leo’s flat and hang out there looking sad when he’s away. Other than being desperately in love – a somewhat unconvincing reason – Pallaoro never really explains why this needs to happen other than wanting the entire film to take place in Leo’s apartment.
It’s an interesting concept, not seeing the characters in the outside world and a single location could be dramatically fascinating, but Pallaoro misses the opportunity to explore Leo’s claustrophobia or perhaps even agoraphobia, how it impacts his feeling for Anna who always comes to his place, or on his addiction to painkillers. Pallaoro doesn’t even really explain where his back pain stems from or if it’s real.
There was also a point where The Echo Chamber could look at the reality of Leo’s pain and the extent to which it is psychosomatic. His need for pain medication seems to dominate the story but Pallaoro never investigates even the exact location of his pain, when and how it affects him or why. This would be a much more interesting story and the chance to say something about his personality, where pain, love, music and addiction intersect and whether he prioritises his own release over the feelings of others.
Likewise, the strand of album recording with an older singer who’s lost her husband goes nowhere, just another friend but offering next to no insight. And having Susan Sarandon in this role as Ava feels like a waste. Starring Luca Marinelli as Leo and Alicia Vikander as Anna, as The Echo Chamber unfolds its direction becomes increasingly unclear and as it inches towards a totally unseeded and over dramatic conclusion, it proves surprisingly dull.
The Echo Chamber is screening at the BFI London Film Festival 2026 from 7-18 October.
