Written and directed by Vincent D’Alessandro, twenty year old Dmitri dreams of escape as he squats in an abandoned garage with his gentle yet infantile father in rural Pennsylvania. Starring: Will Ehren, Jenny Zwigard, Graham Poore, Jonny Nichols and Emily Rosa-Lyn Gomez.
One of the things filmmakers can struggle with in the early days and with first features is establishing good instincts. It’s finding those choices which compliment what they’re trying to do visually and thematically in a smooth manner, and that’s one of the things that stands out with Bottom Feeders. Vincent D’Alessandro shows his good instincts with the shots that he chooses, the framing, the intimacy and depth. Something that he also shows as editor of the film as well, moving with confidence and patience, in a nice contrast to the leading character.
Interestingly, perhaps the best example is that D’Alessandro manages to shoot decent sex scenes, which is not a hugely easy task in this day and age. Arguably, they are too long and take up a bit more of the runtime than compliments the story as a whole, but they are still well done so he deserves a lot of credit for that. Partially that’s because the direction and atmosphere really bring through the youthfulness to this story. Dmitri (Will Ehren) is a vulnerable young man, he’s a mix of the typical recklessness, brashness and quickness to anger or aggression, while also being incredibly resilient and surprisingly sensitive.
Will Ehren does a good job of capturing that blend of qualities, he brings a heavy dose of brooding and hormones to the table without making Dmitri feel like your typical twenty-something kid. He leads Bottom Feeders well, adding some complexity without overriding his naivety and impatience. There’s then a solid cast behind him but there’s no denying that the focus truly lies with Dmitri.
With the help of cinematographer Jack Mannion they strongly capture that feel of a rural community. The colouring, particularly in the night scenes is compelling and has a great texture, with the palette leaning towards those deeper browns and greens. Although at times it can lean slightly too far into the dark and lose some of the clarity. However, they create an atmosphere that’s riddled with emotional issues, leaving you hanging on to find out how they’ll come into play.
Bottom Feeders features a lot of budding talent, Vincent D’Alessandro makes a lot of thoughtful, purposeful choices with his direction. Will Ehren gives a captivating leading performance and it’s an interesting take on that element which is almost but not quite coming-of-age, exploring the confusion and struggle of your early twenties. There are scenes that run on longer than they need to and there are some key issues to the story which go underexplored, leaving a fair number of unanswered questions, but it is a solid debut feature from D’Alessandro.
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