Natalia Smimoff's Lock Charmer takes place in Buenos Aires during a time where a strange, smelly smoke engulfs the city. Sebastian, a 30-something locksmith, learns that his recent girlfriend, Monica, is pregnant and their is a chance he may be the father. Sebastian is not interested in any type of responsibility or committment, and Monica's news completely shatters his world. While dealing with the idea that he could possibly be the father, and hoping for an abortion, Sebastian begins to discover a strange power, having the ability to see visions of people's lives and feelings when he fixes their locks. Lock Charmer is a film that snuck up on me, being at first what could only be described as a light-hearted, magical type of film that uses this form of magic based neo-realism to tell a heartfelt tale. What starts off slight quickly becomes something more, a poignant examination of maturity and the fear of responsibility. Sebastian is a man whose fearful of any type of commitment or responsiblity and the film slowly and subtely exposes this weakness. One of the better sequences of the film is when Sebastian goes to visit his father, a man who himself had little interest in raising a child. Sebastian is a man headied down the same path as his father, which leads to loneliness out of this fear of growing up. For a film that feels so light-hearted, the ending of Lock Charmer is a devastating tonial shift, with a poignant moment of sadness that ultimately inflicts the necessary change. Lock Charmer is a film that hides behind its light-hearted tone for awhile, slowly revealing its true intentions with a finale that is emotionally resonant and completely earned.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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