By Dennis Hartley
More lo-fi than “sci-fi” (as it is billed), Lucia Garibaldi’s minimalist drama suggests a near-future Uruguay wherein dogs have disappeared, ants are to be feared, youth is revered, and everybody’s weird. The story centers on a sullen and taciturn 18 year-old named Elisa (Martina Passeggi), who lives with her mother in a dark and dreary apartment complex. Elisa has been chosen by some nebulous government institute to go to “the North”, which appears to be a coveted Shangri-La to the citizenry. Problem is, once people go there, they are never heard from again (like Elisa’s sister, for example).
Regardless, it’s considered an honor to be chosen; there are even lotteries for a chance to make the journey (echoes of Logan’s Run, where people about to turn the state-mandated life termination age of 30 hope for a chance at “renewal”-which no one ever seems to achieve). Elisa’s mother is scraping and saving for a lottery ticket; and she’s chagrined at Elisa’s ambivalence about her own luck.
When a 30-something female neighbor with a prosthetic leg and dubious intentions takes a sudden interest in becoming Elisa’s bestie, complications ensue. A scene where Elisa offers the “smell of youth” for a fee was nearly a bail point for me. While there are a few interesting ideas, none of them really go anywhere, much less the narrative. Unfortunately, A Bright Future is little more than a dim bulb.
