Chelsea Lupkin
We welcome Santiago Menghini to the site for the first time today. An accomplished filmmaker with multiple Sundance and SXSW shorts to his credit (as well as a Netflix horror feature), the Canadian artist is also quite versatile in his storytelling, having previously traversed multiple flavors of horror, drama, and documentary in his still-short filmography. Today’s featured short, Red Wine, is in the style of a Hitchcockian thriller, with an exquisite tension flowing as freely as the wine. An alcohol-fueled evening of scintillating conversation between old colleagues (and one dangerous glass we lose track of almost immediately) creates a juicy, tension-fueled drama so enthralling that its twenty-minute runtime passes with barely any notice.
At its core, it is a simple plan. What could go wrong? For Edmond, our would-be-poisoner (played by Romano Orzari), everything can. While the film runs through a series of vignettes akin to a ‘whodunnit’, Orzari’s performance anchors this story of character unraveling. Menghini is a talented visual effects artist in addition to his directing skills, but, paying respect to his influences, the direction is old-school, with a focus on his actors and providing their performances a canvas of incredibly composed shots that communicate in a classic style—dread via a push-in on the poison, comedic relief, delivered via a strategic wide shot as Orzari has a complete meltdown in the hallway. John Ralston (who I loved in Infinity Pool) is excellent as well as the target of Edmond’s ire. Frankly, he does an incredible job of making me want to poison him, too!
A giant banquet hall and many extras were complications for the self-described “small film”.
While Red Wine pays homage to classic cinema tropes, it is not slavish either—it still feels surprisingly fresh in its approach. Still, it’s hard not to be impressed by the technical finesse Menghini and team bring to bear upon the sheer complexity of the shoot. “It was a challenge to work with so many extras and actors in such a small film, but it was an incredible experience. A process with lots of planning, great art direction, and an amazing technical crew,” Menghini shared with us over email. Cinematographer Olivier Gossot deserves his laurels for his attention to detail as, under his capable supervision, the banquet hall feels like the most cinematic of sets, with the camera moving fluidly through the many provocative conversations (each with their own glass of dangerous red wine) yet nails well-composed shot after well-composed shot, despite the busyness the scenes.
Written by Menghini with Nicolas Billon, the director freely shares the Hitchcock influence as inspiration for the story, but also teases “an insane fundraising event I once went to.” Keeping with the spirit of the short, if and when we could share the film became a source of suspense for us, as Red Wine is a bit older than our usual featured shorts, starring on the 2019 festival circuit and notably winning an Audience Award at Fantasia that year. We’re pleased to help present the film’s online premiere, and new fans of Menghini can see his prior three shorts online too. His latest short, Rally, has been playing festivals this year, and the filmmaker tells us he is currently working on a film in the psychological horror space.