Nowadays, people are exposed to too many external inputs, especially in social media, those wonderful tools are very useful but like everything else, if wrongly used, or rather, badly consumed, can lead to very dark places. One of the most popular trends in recent years is fitness, turning your body into an authentic Greek sculpture, which is great, it is always good to promote exercise and a healthy body. However, so much exposure to these topics can lead insecure people to feel more insufficient, especially young people and teenagers, who believe that they must look like this to be accepted. And a little bit of that is shown in the short film “Slim Chances” by Asia Bonetto, which has already earned a spot at the Women in Film 2022 and California Women’s Film Festival 2023.
This story shows us a glimpse of a young girl with an eating disorder and a strong obsession, to achieve the perfect body. Played by the young Isabel Cerón, the protagonist is a raw and real representation of the daily life of thousands of people who suffer from this disease. Isabel drives the character to perfection, navigating her apartment, we see that tiredness and frustration in her eyes, we may only see her doing “routine things”, but the eyes never lie, and every good actor knows that this is the key to an excellent performance.
The artifice behind this production is Asia Bonetto, who did an amazing job in directing. Close and intimate, it’s a story that sends a simple but effective message to society and how beauty standards can seriously affect the lives of young people, especially women, who are demanded even more. Because of course, as we are used in this days, all the happiness is shown on the outside, but indoors is when the truth comes to light.
This message is enhanced by the cinematography of Max Schmitz, at first glance very nice, with a handling of warm tones mostly, but in conjunction with the other elements, reflects the absolute loneliness of the protagonist. Little by little, it shows the place as if you were there in an exquisite sequence shot that suffocates you as it progresses.
The production design of Sophie Markus is also crucial to achieving that feeling. That small apartment is an extension of the main character, surrounded by messages of positivism and her objectives graphically represented. But like everything in this short film, it serves to give the opposite message, a false motivation to achieve a goal that was not really born from you. To fill a void that the “perfect lives” of other people have dug in you.
And what to say about the sound composed by the artist DoDo, is undoubtedly the aspect that manages to disturb you the most. While the visual elements already captured the message, the sound design confirms it in a forceful way. A theme worthy of a psychological thriller, that if you close your eyes you think you’re watching one, although when you open them, what you see is not far from being a nightmare that unfortunately is a reality for many youths.
In conclusion, with brilliant visuals and sound, a protagonist blinded by obsession, and a direction that aims at realism, Slim Chances is a short film that will surely receive ovations at festivals, and above all, it is a story that works as a window to see the lives of these tormented people who more than a perfect body, need a helping hand.
