Sombras Chinas

Writer and Director: Sebaztian Baz

Argentinian director Sebaztian Baz’s debut feature Sombras Chinas is completely moreish. It’s a vertical movie – meaning it’s all created in a series of micro episodes shot entirely in portrait format – TikTok-ready in other words. The central character is Cande, a young influencer documenting her whole life on social media, pouting for camera, posing sexily and blowing kisses at us, her viewers. Comments from her followers scroll endlessly up the left-hand side of the screen, while hearts of likes flow up the right. When things go wrong – and Cande’s girlish optimism frequently crashes – she is happy to show herself messily spooning in mouthfuls of cornflakes, or sobbing extravagantly.

Her little gang of girlfriends, VIP Hostesses as they style themselves, are all alike – dressing up for crazy nights out in bars for more posts and likes. They all apparently have successful lines in sponsorship.  So when Cande’s boyfriend Rami stands her up for a special dinner, she goes straight back on the socials, wolfing down a huge burger, endorsing it with orgasmic sighs. But as soon as she turns off her filmed content, she lets us see her spitting it out in disgust.

She had got all excited about that meal. We’d followed her shopping, trying on outfits and cheekily scoring freebies. Brilliantly, she’s live streaming when Rami comes home, fetches a beer and turns on the footie without so much as saying a word to her. They split up. She makes such a parade of her suffering that even her best friends start telling her she’s cringe. Much of the subsequent action is Cande’s attempts at revenge.

Her mates suggest she uses the services of middle aged cab driver Pola. With his huge beer belly and bum crack frequently on display, we sense he’s a creep at least. But Cande is so intent on filming herself that she simply doesn’t see it – even when he starts talking about ‘tasty young pussy’.

Sombras Chinas turns into a highly entertaining thriller when Cande becomes convinced she’s being stalked by an elderly man, Horacio. Not one to miss an opportunity for a good post, she starts stalking him in her turn, filming as she goes. The plot races along, intercut with some very funny posts from her acquaintances. Rami only has to upload a picture of his food at a fancy restaurant for Cande to realise he’s found a new girlfriend. Some of her older male followers leave dodgy pictures.

Meanwhile there’s another thread. Cande’s glamorous aunt Magdelena disappeared several years ago. She didn’t disappear – this isn’t a political movie. Meanwhile creepy Pola is acting as Cande’s guardian, helping her move into Magdelena’s old apartment. But because he has now got into documenting his life online, we see him sniffing around Magdelena’s underwear drawer – yet another unsavoury clue Cande somehow misses.

There’s a lovely bit of bathos when at a critical moment, her phone battery dies and all we can see is that familiar, dispiriting icon. And the end credits are simply hilarious. ‘Thong posts: 822. Thongs owned: 1 (borrowed)’ reads one.

The cast of mainly unknowns offer highly convincing performances. The young women are just ordinary young women: Candela Del Zotto perfect as the self-obsessed Cande, and Sol Echeverria, Camila Karwala and Giannuta Giunta great as her shallow mates. Carlos Benincasa is terrific as the digusting Pola.

It’s Baz’s exploitation of every possible means of digitial communication that makes Sombras Chinas such a delight along with his satirical vision and the sheer vibrancy of the story telling. A comic masterpiece.

Sombras Chinas will be released on VoD shortly.