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Italian Studies

2021

Vanessa Kirby, David Ajala, Annika Wahlsten, Lars Wahlsten ...

5.2

Drama A writer loses her memory. Adrift in NYC, she connects with a group of teenagers - in conversations both real and imagined - and searches for a way home.

	Author	Review
United States	David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"A shapeless hodgepodge of pretentious affectation (...) There’s ample atmosphere in the warm tones and singing colors of Jutkiewicz’s cinematography, but very little substance in the mood piece that goes with it."	NEG
United Kingdom	Wendy Ide Screendaily	"With a less-compelling actor in the central role, the film might have found itself mired in its own enigma. But Vanessa Kirby is a magnetic presence"	POS
United States	Nick Allen The Playlist	"A striking mix of open-hearted storytelling and atmospheric filmmaking (...) Leon’s affection for the city and its people is what makes sense most of all."	POS
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"If movies teach you how to watch them, this one instructs viewers to let go and make their own connections (...) more opaque than it needs to be"	NEU
United States	Guy Lodge Variety	"Adam Leon's brief, stylish film never fully unpacks its intriguing premise, but gains feeling and texture from Kirby's performance"	POS
United States	Andy Crump Paste Magazine	"It’s an odd sort of travelogue Leon and Kirby curate here, but Italian Studies’ drifting, artsy peculiarities make 70 minutes fly by with a palliative affection"	POS
United States	David Fear Rolling Stone	This raw indie, in which Vanessa Kirby suddenly forgets who she is, drops viewers into an equally disassociative state. That’s a compliment"	POS
United States	Katie Walsh Los Angeles Times	"'Italian Studies' is a unique curio of a film, a free sketch of time and place melting into a singular subjective experience that asks 'does memory matter?'".	POS
United States	Carlos Aguilar The Wrap	"Mildly auspicious if ultimately disappointing (...) Leon’s commitment to ambiguity isn’t enough to convince one to surrender entirely to sensations and worry not about what it all means (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Chris Barsanti Slant	"A Vibrant but Half-Formed Love Letter to New York City (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	Michael Frank The Film Stage	"Italian Studies doesn’t work without Kirby, who gives a magnetic, often odd performance (...) An experience that has moments of singularity, though it can’t hide from its disjointed nature. But it’s different"	POS
United States	Carlos Aguilar rogerebert.com	"Frustrating in its repetitiveness, [it] is like a narrative exercise fascinated by both memory and youth. 'Italian Studies' relentlessly experiments with form, but fails to fully congeal (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	Jesse Hassenger AV Club	"Dreamy (...) Whatever the original motivation, Leon appears to sense, after a couple of sweet slice-of-life capers, that you can't keep walking and talking forever"	POS

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